A Narnian Tale, Part 5: The Last Dance
by WhiteRoseMarie
Summary: The Pevensies' have always known that their greatest strength was their unity. But what happens when you can't defeat the darkness within, to defeat the darkness out there? In this final chapter, the biggest war the Royals will face will not be on the battlefield, and worst threat that Narnia's monarchy will face will not be from Jadis and Jadin. This time, love will not be enough.
1. Prologue

**A/N: HELLO! WELCOME TO THE FIFTH AND FINAL INSTALLMENT OF A NARNIAN TALE! **

**I know it's been ages since I wrapped up the previous story and I promised I would start the new one but as usual my horribly busy and unpredictable life got in the way, but i'm back, and i'm so excited to start this story! As i've mentioned, this is going to be my last story in this series and it's going to be the biggest story i have ever done so yeah, mega excited but also nervous haha, hopefully it goes well and you guys like it! **

**If you are visiting me/this story/this series for the first time, I highly urge you to start with the first story in the series; A Narnian Tale, Part 1: Dancing in the Rain, and read all the stories leading up to this one, because obviously it would make sense to read the stories from the first to the last in order right haha, this story would also make more sense then. So yeah, do check it out!**

**If you're a reader who has stuck with me throughout the series, I just want to say a massive thank you for continuing to support me even with my crappy updating skills, I really do appreciate and love y'all and I really hope I don't let y'all down with this story! You guys are the reason I keep writing and publishing my works, so I urge you to please continue to have faith in me that I will deliver my very best to y'all, it's the least I can do in return for your incredible support!**

**Gosh I'm rambling, okay, without further ado, here is the prologue to- A Narnian Tale, Part 5: The Last Dance!**

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**Prologue**

Blood is a funny thing.

Crimson red, thick and sticky. A liquid, much like what, that is essential for our survival.

It is something that fills us all, pumping through us every second, giving us life. It's in our arms that we use to hold things and hug and fight. It's in our legs and feet that we use to walk and run and kick and jump. It's in our heads that we use to think and speak and experience.

And right now, it was on my hands.

The hands that I used to murder, a mere few minutes ago.

I knew the others were coming; I could already here alarmed voices and distant running footsteps. I wasn't really surprised, people tend to react in distress when they hear shouts from someone being killed.

I didn't have time to clean off the blood from my hands, and at the moment it was not a priority either. I looked back at the lifeless body on the floor, now in a scarlet pool that was slowly growing. Shocked, olive-green eyes stared back at me, almost accusingly as if they were berating me for my crime.

But I sensed no guilt.

If anything, it gave me satisfaction to see my victim lying there like that.

Cold, and dead.

I wiped the now-stained dagger on my dress and placed it back in my sheath. The voices and footsteps were getting louder, which meant they were getting closer, and I was running out of time.

I darted to the windows and pushed them open, greeted with a gust of wind. Glancing back at what I did, I could not help but smirk as I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Jumping out of the window which was on the second floor, I skillfully landed on my feet. My trusted stead was already there and waiting for me, just where I left her.

It was a good thing the room was in the back part of the castle, facing an open courtyard that had an exit right into the forest. Unfortunately, some guards on duty had already spotted me and were running towards me, commanding me to not move.

Fools, thinking they could command me.

I swiftly mounted Nurisa and gave her a sharp kick which sent her into a full gallop. Within minutes, we were out of the castle and in the forest, and the guards had no chance of catching up to us.

I knew where I had to go next, and I recalled the words I was told that would give me direction to my destination.

"Follow the trees to the darkest edge of the land, where nothing but shadows exist, and you will find a cave as black as death."

Only one area came to mind, the only possible location that fit the description, so without a second thought I tugged the reigns and steered Nurisa on towards the Southern tip of Narnia.

I had ridden through these forests dozens of times, but this was the first time I was riding through them with such an intention. I could feel the fire in me burning, the spark that drove me on and fueled my endeavors and purpose.

The darkness in me burned brighter than ever, and that sensation felt incredibly good.

After riding for what felt like, and probably was, hours, the forest began to get thinner and thinner, and not to mention darker and darker. The trees were losing their bright green hue and were instead starting to appear more grey and brown, and there was more dead foliage than live greenery.

Finally, we reached a clearing and I tugged on Nurisa's reigns to slow her down, which she very much appreciated since she was exhausted from galloping at top speed for so long.

The cave was right in front of us, so round and big and dark that it looked like a literal black hole in the forest. It was at the base of a mountain that had collapsed a long time ago to just leave ruins all around it, and with the sharp rocks around it, it looked all the more creepier.

I got off Nurisa and approached the cave, wondering if I should just enter it straight away or call out from the outside or somehow make a torch to go in.

Finally, I decided to just enter the cave. It was a magical chasm and I was sure one way or another I would be able to see. Requiring a makeshift torch or calling out from the outside were too cowardly approaches to take.

And I was definitely no coward.

As I entered the cave, it took some time for my eyes to adjust to the utter darkness. There was also a rapid drop in temperature, and I could not help but shiver as a chill went down my spine. But I ventured further into it, slowly, with caution in every step.

Finally, there was a weak scruffy voice resonating from deep within the cave.

"Who's there?"

I was not going to be foolish and let out my identity without even knowing who I was talking to, that would put me in the more vulnerable position.

"Why don't you come out and see for yourself?"

There was silence after I replied, and I knew whoever had asked me the question was considering what I had said.

After a few moments, there was a flash of bright light which made me squint uncomfortably. Once it had toned down a bit, and my vision could adjust to the sudden brightness, I saw him.

The goblin.

He was much shorter than me, he probably only came up to my waist. He was round, almost like a ball, and his face looked like some sort of rough, disfigured green mask, almost like it was melting off his head. He had long pointed ears and a hooked nose that were such prominent features one would almost forget to notice his eyes, which were like black gems glistening in the bright light.

He looked up at me, and a look of recognition came over him, to which I smirked.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

The goblin was clearly flustered, and I could understand why. Seeing someone like me after hiding for centuries, was bound to make him a bit tense.

I let out a breath through my nose as my smirk widened.

"Relax goblin, I mean no harm. I am here because I need your help."

He arched a hairy grey eyebrow and frowned, tilting his head.

"How do I know you're not here to hurt me? How could someone like _you_ need _my_ help?"

I knew he was still skeptical about me, from the way his whole body was tensed up and the way he was looking at me closely.

I straightened my back, looking down my nose at him, and responded in the most serious tone.

"I want my family dead."

It took him a moment to process what I had just said, and he looked as confused as ever. I knew he was trying to put everything together to make sense, and I decided to be a little helpful, save him the trouble of taxing his mind too much.

I held up my blood-stained palm, and he gasped both in surprise and realization. As he examined it closely, his expression changed from one of perplexion and suspicion, to one of understanding and delighted wickedness.

"Well, in that case, I am now at your service…"

He lowered his head in a bow, which I appreciated, before looking back up with an open smirk, revealing his sharp yellow teeth.

"Queen Lucy."

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**A/N: And there you go, The Last Dance has officially begun! Stay tuned for the next chapter by following this story! I'm going to try my best to stick to a weekly update pattern, so please have faith in me haha.**

**Have a nice day, live well, and REVIEW! :D**


	2. The Calm before the Storm

**A/N: AYYY whaddup friends. Sorry this is a week late, but i worked quite hard on it so I hope my effort makes up for my tardiness in updating also thank you so much to all those that reviewed and followed and favorited this story so far, you guys are the best 3 **

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**The Calm before the Storm**

Lucy's POV

"BULLSEYE!"

I couldn't help but express my excitement at my achievement as my dagger protruded from the very core of the crimson circle on the target canvas further away. I beamed in pride, after all, not everyone could get a bull's-eye 7 times in a row!

"Oh okay, great, but you know it doesn't show much dynamism to keep hitting the same spot over and over again."

I smirked at the clear jealousy in Lorenzo's voice as we waited for our attendant, Pegry, who was positioned near the targets to remove our daggers .

"Oh I'm so sorry, obviously I'm not as great as you. Please oh please, teach me your ways!" I dramatically exclaimed, feigning awe and adoration.

Obviously my façade went straight over Lorenzo's head, as he puffed out his chest and gave a look of complete arrogance and pompousness.

"It's all in the wrist, my good friend!" He frivolously replied, and with his eyes closed, flicked his dagger towards the target, a smug smile on his face.

"Aaaaaah!"

We both simultaneously turned to the source of the shout, only to find Pegry paralysed with the most terrified expression, and Lorenzo's dagger a mere few inches away from him on the ground.

I raised my eyebrows and turned back to Lorenzo, who was grimacing sheepishly at our poor traumatized attendant.

"So sorry my good man!" He called out with a wave, to which Pegry promptly replied, "n-no harm done Sir!"

"Watch out Lorenzo, one of these days you might just kill someone!"

"Yeah, hopefully you first."

I chuckled and shook my head, going to pick up my next dagger when I heard galloping hooves getting closer to us from behind. I turned to find Glenstorm racing towards us, his face crinkled in concern and desperation.

"Your majesty! Hurry, something terrible has happened!"

Lorenzo and I turned to each other and shared a worried look.

Oh no.

* * *

"Oh my…"

I could not even finish my sentence, I was in far too much shock to be able to.

Alighting from my horse, I looked around at the devastation that pierced my heart.

What used to be a village of charming little huts that were adorned with lilacs and white roses was now a shamble of burnt wood and collapsed rocks. All around, slabs of rock, timber fragments and bricks lay scattered, but that was not the most horrifying part.

What made me sick to the stomach were the bodies.

Throughout the entire village that was now nothing more than a burned facade, countless bodies lay motionless, distorted into weird positions, covered in blood, soot and dirt. There was a woman who lay right in front of me, her eyes wide but blank, blood trickling from the side of her mouth. Ahead, there were 2 men who lay beside each other, sticks still in their hands as if even in death, they did not relent. There were so many bodies visibly sprawled around, and I just knew there were many more in the ruins of the huts.

I had seen many atrocities in my time as Queen, violence and death beyond imagination. But this…

This had to be the most horrific thing I had ever seen.

Perhaps it was due to the soot and ash still in the air from some of the fires that continued to burn, or my emotional instability from the overwhelming reality I was standing in, but I felt light-headed for a moment which caused me to take a shaky step back, and step on something.

I looked down and felt the bile rise in my throat.

A doll.

It was not too fanciful, mostly made from straw and cotton. The doll was a fairy, the wings made from leaves, and it had a simple drawing as the face. The back of it was torn, and it was covered in black patches, but nonetheless it was still quite intact.

I bent down and picked up the toy, tears stinging my eyes as I noticed a small body not too far away in my peripheral vision, but I refused to look at it. I knew I was not strong enough.

_She could not have been older than 10._

_She was just an innocent little girl._

_She should not be dead._

I clutched the doll to my heart, letting my tears run freely. Over the years I had tried to train myself to be tougher, to not let my emotions get to me so easily, as a monarch needs to be able to keep her cool.

_But in this moment, I was not Queen Lucy the Valiant._

_I was Lucy, a human, mourning the death of a child._

I felt an arm envelope me and I did not bother to look up to see who it was, I knew it was Lorenzo from his minty smell. I lay my head against his chest, trying to overcome the unbearable ache in my heart. No matter how hard he hugged me as I sobbed, the pain still remained.

"Oh my god."

I was too in shock and horror to realise that the rest of my family had arrived as well, and they were as shaken as I was. Susan maintained her straight posture, but I could see her fists clenched tightly and her eyes wet as she looked around, trying to control herself. Ella on the other hand, had tears flowing freely down her face, but she looked more livid than upset as she scanned the area in disbelief. Serena had her hands over her mouth, sobbing uncontrollably as she must've been reminded of when Darluga was destroyed. Edmund and Peter were talking to some of the guards, and Caspian was walking around the wreck, though all the boys looked very distressed as well.

"Any survivors?" Peter asked, though we all knew the answer to that already.

"None, my liege. The ambush was in the darkest hours of the night, the guards were completely caught unaware and were greatly outnumbered. No one survived." Our Chief soldier replied solemnly.

"I knew Jadis and Jadin were evil, but to kill an entire village…" Edmund shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, looking around as his jaw clenched.

"Look, a letter."

We all turned to find Caspian pulling out a parchment from a slit in a burnt tree bark.

"Tomorrow. Dawn. Beruna."

As Caspian finished speaking those 3 words, there was a moment of silence as realisation dawned upon us. This was no random ambush, nor was it a mere act of intimidation or terrorism.

Peter finally broke the silence, voicing out what was in all our heads.

"This is war."

* * *

Ella's POV

"When she starts crying, it's usually because she is hungry, so there is some of her mash I prepared and put in the haversack."

"Yes Your Majesty."

"And don't forget to change her nappy, especially before she sleeps, or else she will become really irritated and will not stop crying."

"Yes Your Majesty."

"And she likes to be stroked on the back gently when she's being put to sleep. Also, hum a song to her whenever she starts to get cranky, she likes soft humming."

"Ella…"

I turned to find Serena approaching me, a sympathetic look on her face.

"I'm sure Miriam will take good care of her. Besides, she'll also have the Professor and Karina to help her." She said, referring to my other mid-wife and Talina's usual caretaker when Edmund and I were busy.

I bit my lip and nodded my head, trying to believe Serena. But when I turned back to my baby, sound asleep in Miriam's arms, I could not help but feel my heart sink.

I stepped forward and kissed her gently on her forehead, stroking her little brown curls softly as she slept peacefully; unaware of just what reality she was in.

_And I was glad of that._

"Goodbye my love," I whispered, unable to pull myself away from her. The thought that I may never see her again was killing me slowly on the inside, and I wanted nothing more than to take her back into my arms and hold her, protect her, forever.

_But I had to protect Narnia too. _

_I had to fight. _

_And with every fight, there was always the element of uncertainty, of possibility, that you would not come back alive._

"What if they attack the castle?" I muttered just as the question entered my head, feeling the panic rise in me as I thought about the possible danger my baby could face.

"I have some of my dragons guarding all sides of the castle, no one we don't want will be able to enter it. Also, remember, there will be guards outside the nursery. Don't worry Ella, Talina will be safe."

Serena put a hand on my shoulder and I tried to smile back in thanks, but I was still too upset to do so sincerely.

This was one of my greatest fears after I had given birth to Talina; that a war would come and I would have to fight, unable to protect her.

"Ella, it's time."

No matter how hard I tried, I could not pull myself away from her. I just could not bring myself to leave her and go into battle, not with the recurring thought of what would happen to her if someone managed to breach the castle security, or if I die in the field and never get to see her again.

_But I was more than a mother now. I could not forget that._

_I was Queen Ella, and right now I had to fight for my land, for my people._

So, I took a deep breath, and turned away from Talina. And as I walked through the door, every step that I took was like a stab to my heart.

_No, I had to be strong._

I had to have faith that Aslan would protect Talina, and that I would survive the war to see her again.

In fact, I was all the more determined to fight and win and live, I had to, for Talina.

* * *

Edmund's POV

"Are you ready?"

I glanced at Peter who was currently helping me to tighten my armour.

"Do I have a choice?" I replied, trying to lighten the mood but quite obviously failing as he looked back at me in concern.

"We've fought many wars Edmund, but none as big as this. They're 10 times stronger than they were before, and we have no idea what to expect."

I gulped as he spoke, recognising the truth in his words, but I knew this was not the time for him to psyche himself into a defeatist mood, as he sometimes did whenever he was really scared, though he would never care to admit it.

"Stop it Peter. We're stronger too. The strategy we just discussed with our troop leaders is a solid one. We have the dragons on our side as well. We can win this."

I was never really good at encouragement, but I knew that Peter understood where I was coming from.

"Talina?"

I felt my heart twist painfully as he spoke her name. I hated the idea of my baby girl having to be in this war, and all that mattered to me was that she was safe. If anything were to happen to her, I would not know what I would do.

"Ella took her to the nursery, the Professor and 2 of the mid-wives will be looking after her, together with the guards outside."

Pete smiled, which was nice to see considering his face up until this point was just perpetually in an intense frown.

"She's well protected Ed, don't worry."

I nodded but did not reply. I did worry, but I did not want to show it. I had to focus on the battle ahead now, I could not afford to lose focus and make myself vulnerable.

"Done."

"Thanks."

Peter took a step back and gave me a look, a look I had seen often before- the look that he gave me as if it could possibly be the last time he ever looked at me.

_And I did not like it one bit._

He opened his mouth to speak and I just knew he was going to say something sentimental that would come across like a goodbye message, and despite him knowing that I hated it whenever he spoke like that; I knew he would still go on.

_I was certainly not going into war with an emotional hangover._

"You know, whatever happens, you should know…"

"Save it for after we win."

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**A/N: This was so hard to write I'm sorry if it isn't that good! **

**But yeah, I still worked quite hard on it so I hope you still somewhat liked it!**

**Also, someone mentioned in a review about a trailer. I would love to make a trailer for this story but to be honest, if I do, it's going to take some time because I'm honestly so busy. So that is why I'm calling out to anyone who's good at making videos? If you don't mind helping me make my trailer that would be great. Just PM me if you are kind enough to be willing to help me out haha, then I can provide you all the details (that's a little incentive/prize I guess? You help me make my trailer, you get to find out the whole story in advance, maybe even have a say in how it goes!) So yeah... **

**Don't forget to review my lovelies!**

**Cheers! And remember, live nice :)**


	3. The Second Battle of Beruna

**A/N: Hola Amigos! I'm sorry if this chapter is bad, I suck at writing fight/battle scenes but I tried quite hard so I hope it's okay! Also, of course, sorry for the super late update!**

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**The Second Battle of Beruna**

Peter's POV

_The silence was deafening._

We stood there at the leeward mountain side of Beruna, quiet and hyper-aware.

My soldiers behind me were still, and though I could not see them, I knew they were all anxiously waiting for the sun, and for the enemy.

I took a deep breath as I noticed the sky over us starting to turn lighter, from a dark indigo to a lighter violet.

The sunlight was just beginning to spill over the land from behind the mountains that surrounded the valley. Slowly, everything was illuminated, including the massive army ahead of us on the other side of the battleground.

_Dawn had arrived._

I squinted in the growingly-bright sunlight, trying to get a better look at the opposing army. It seemed that they had increased appreciably in size since the last we fought them, and I knew we were greatly outnumbered. They also seemed to have new beasts that I had never seen before, some that even looked like the one that attacked us in the forest some time back.

I was reminded of my first battle at Beruna, centuries ago in reality but which only felt like a mere few days ago. I was scared then, and all that time later, here I was, still scared.

_Scared that I would let my kingdom down._

_That we would lose, and everyone I loved would die._

_I was a king, I was supposed to be fearless and brave and bold, but in actuality I was still terrified; and I hated that._

_I had led armies and fought battles numerous times before, and of course emerged victorious, but this was different._

_This had way too much more at stake._

I willed myself to forget about my own worries and fears and focus on the battle ahead; possibly the most important battle I have ever lead.

The time had come for this age-long war to end.

"How you holding up, Pete?"

I turned to my left where Edmund sat upon his horse, squinting ahead at the enemy-line as he too observed them closely.

I nodded, in an attempt to not only convince him but myself as well that we were ready.

"Pete," I turned to Caspian who was on my other side, as he looked me in the eyes encouragingly.

"We can do this. No matter what Peter, we are by your side."

"All the way," Edmund added on.

I nodded at both of them in gratitude and looked back ahead, taking in another deep breath. I had faith in our strategy but I had no idea what Jadis and Jadin had in store for us and from the looks of the past few years and all the trouble they had caused us, I knew I could not afford to underestimate them.

After a few more agonizing moments, the whole valley was now lit up.

_It was time._

I raised my sword, gripping onto it tight as I said a quick silent prayer in my mind to Aslan to look over us, and gave my war cry to which my soldiers cheered on.

"FOR NARNIA!"

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Serena's POV

Pete had just given the war cry, which meant the battle had just started.

From above, I could see our army charge forward, cheering and yelling on valiantly with Peter, Edmund and Caspian leading them at the front. I looked to the other side of the valley where Jadis and Jadin held up their swords simultaneously and their armies charged ahead, though they still stayed behind.

_Cowards_.

I could see the 2 armies get closer and closer, inch by inch from my vantage point, and finally the 2 lines converged, which meant the start of my countdown.

10.

My heart could not help but clench as I knew Peter had begun to fight.

9.

_"Don't you dare die on me Peter Pevensie," I recalled telling him, holding his face and looking sternly into his eyes._

8.

_"Yes Ma'am, I wouldn't dream of it," He chuckled back, before pulling me closer and holding me tight._

7.

_I held onto him as if for dear life, and whispered all I could think of in that moment._

6.

_"I love you."_

5.

_"I love you too," he whispered back, pecking the side of my head._

4.

_"Ton Gresiel!"_

3.

_As I shouted to my dragons to get ready, I took a deep breath to ready myself as well._

2.

_The last time I was in a war, I lost my home, people and family._

1.

_I refused to let that happen again._

"NOW!"

All at once, my dragons, including the one I sat atop of, swooped down from our hidden positions of the mountain tops, towards the battle below us.

As we got closer, everything became clearer, the fighting and the killing. I hated the sight of it, the blood and the death, but I had to do this. I had to fight to protect my new home.

"Akina!"

I yelled to my dragon attack with her fire, but something weird happened.

As she let out a massive breath of fire, a bright blue glow emerged from the battle ground and enclosed it. The fire struck against it and just dissipated.

_A forcefield._

My breathing quickened together with my heartbeat, this was never foreseen in the plan. Jadis never had such powers before as far as I knew.

_Oh no no no no no._

All my dragons came to a still above the forcefield, breathing fire against it again and again but the same thing just happened every time. It just disappeared.

One of my dragons tried to go through the forcefield, but the moment she touched it, she let out a painful screech and I noticed smoke coming from that spot, together with her burnt scales.

_Ice magic._

_That was the only thing that could burn a dragon._

I gulped and looked down, there was no way we could help them now. We could only watch helplessly from above. I made Akina go as close to the forcefield as possible without touching it and looked down, trying my hardest to spot Peter or any of my other family members.

Finally, I spotted him on top of his white stallion. I breathed a sigh of relief seeing that he was alright, swinging his sword at some goblins. I also noticed Edmund and Caspian were close-by as well. Caspian looked up and shouted at Peter.

He must have realized the force-field.

Peter raised his sword and shouted something that made all the Narnian soldiers turn around.

_That's right, Plan B._

"Come on Ella and Susan, it's up to you two now."

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Caspian's POV

"Aaaah!"

I yelled, striking down a werewolf that had tried to bite my horse. I stuck my sword firmly into it, making sure it was dead before withdrawing. I held my fireproof shield close as I looked up, expecting the dragons to come down and Serena give the signal to us to shield ourselves.

_Wait…that's weird._

They were just still in the air above us, and that's when I realised…we were under a forcefield.

_That's what that strange blue glow was!_

"PETER!" I yelled out, spotting him a few feet away. Luckily he heard me and turned around.

"FORCEFIELD! PLAN B!"

Peter looked up for a split second and then back at me and nodded. He raised his sword, and I headed back to the fort. From behind me I could hear him yell out "Retreat to the rocks!"

_ Oh Susan, please be ready. _

* * *

Ella's POV

_Oh god no, they were coming._

That could only mean Plan A had failed, and while I knew there was certainly a likelihood of that happening, I still was not prepared.

I spotted the first few Narnian soldiers retreating back to the forts behind the boulders, with the dwarves hastily opening the doorways for them as they were hidden.

"Hurry!" I yelled out, assuming my position and raising my hands up as I got ready.

I looked back at Susan who was perched atop a higher boulder, a small legion of archers behind her, and nodded at her to which she nodded back to signal that she was ready as well.

Once I spotted the first few enemies behind our soldiers, I took a deep breath and knew I had to do it now.

_Oh Aslan please let this work._

I concentrated my powers into my hands, feeling them grow warmer in my palms as my fingers began to tremble. I needed every bit of power in my body for this, so I focused as hard as possible, a light-headed sensation coming over me as I felt my energy leave me.

_No, I could not faint, not now._

_Do this first, then faint Ella._

I knew this would suck up all my energy, but I did not expect it to be so soon. It was the first time I was doing this on such a massive scale, and I was terrified that I would fail.

Finally, I heard crumbling.

I felt trickle of blood roll from my nose, and the blood was throbbing in my head, but I could see it was working, so I pushed myself even further.

Ahead of me, the ground started to tremble and crumble, which made the enemies slow down and look around in confusion. They were losing their balance and falling, and while they were clueless, I knew exactly why.

Steadily, the ground got wetter and wetter as water saturated it from underneath, causing the soil to become unstable and mushy, almost like quicksand, as the enemies started to sink into the ground and fall, making them completely distracted.

"NOW!" I heard Susan yell.

From above me, a sea of arrows dropped to the ground, majority of them striking the beasts and warriors that were completely off guard due to the sinking ground.

"Groundwater, losers." I panted, my hands dropping to my side in exhaustion.

"El!"

I could faintly make out Ed's voice, before feeling his arms grab me as I swayed, my eyes dropping and blood continuing to trickle from my nose.

"That wasn't too bad," I sighed, leaning into him as I tried to gain my composure and overcome the throbbing sensation in my head.

"Come on," He instructed, one arm steadily wrapped around my waist to hold me up and the other holding his sword ahead of us as he led me towards one of the hidden forts, rather hastily as not before long more of the Sinister Sibling's warriors reached us.

"I told you not to strain yourself to this point; you just never listen to me do you?"

I rolled my eyes as we entered the fort.

"Shut up, I just saved your sorry life."

* * *

Lucy's POV

"Susan!"

I called out to my sister as I ran up to her from inside the fort.

"Lucy! What are you doing here, you're supposed to be inside looking after the wounded!"

I felt a little pang of anger as she said that, it was almost as if I was so useless that all I could do was drop healing juice into people's mouths.

"The Professor took over that for now. I wanted to see how it was going, can I help?"

Susan was currently shooting arrows from a high boulder down at the enemies who were trying to get closer. Her legion were spread out over all the tall rocks and boulders surrounding the fort, striking whoever they could see to try to slow them down as our soldiers recuperated.

"We've got this, Lucy go back inside it's not safe!" she yelled, notching her arrow in her bow before releasing it and hitting an ogre right between its eyes.

I frowned at her tone, feeling like some good-for-nothing baby that still needed protection even fer growing up.

I looked down to see Edmund running up to Ella from the rocks, avoiding the now saturated ground, as he grabbed her and held her very weak state.

Peter and Caspian were near some rocks as well, both fighting off a group of demon-looking scallions who were trying to disarm them.

I looked over the entire grounds, watching as some of the beasts struggled to fight and walk through the wet ground though our own soldiers seemed to have excellent balance and so the upper-hand. I saw my family fighting resiliently, and even some of the army soldiers we had whom I recognised.

_But where were Jadis and Jadin?_

_They were the main enemies, they were the ones we needed to defeat to win. _

_But they were nowhere to be found._

I looked back to Susan, who seemed too focused on her archery to continue her conflict with me, which was good because I was not in the mood to be told to go and sit quietly somewhere.

_My people and my family were fighting for their lives, I could just sit back and watch._

I looked around, wondering how I could spot Jadis or Jadin, or at least how I could help fight.

Suddenly, I spotted an abandoned sword lying at the base of a rock, not too far from me. I smirked and darted for it, seeing as to how there was currently no one fighting near it, just a dead goblin lying beside it.

Picking it up, I heard a growl from behind me and swiftly turned to block a blow from a gigantic ogre, who unfortunately had spotted me trying to arm myself.

It struck again, and while I was able to block his strike, it was too strong and I ended up falling onto my back, my sword still pushing hard against his. My arms were trembling, and my palms were getting sweaty which caused my grip on the hilt of the sword to loosen.

_Oh no._

With one quick nudge the ogre had managed to knock the sword out of my hand, leaving me stranded and helpless.

_Perhaps Susan was right…_

I watched as he raised his own sword, his beady brown eyes glistening as he smile maliciously and got ready to murder me.

But just as he was about to strike me, an arrow emerged from his chest, leaving him frozen and wide-eyed. I could only continue to stare from my sprawled position on the ground as he swayed for a bit before falling onto his knees and then his side.

I was panting and my heart was racing, partly from the adrenaline and partly from the shock of nearly being impaled by an ogre's sword, but nonetheless it was all a frazzled dizzy for me.

I shifted my gaze from the deceased ogre to whatever had caused it to end up in that state and gasped, my heartbeat picking up speed if that was even possible.

Keladry.

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**A/N: Like, I said, not very good at writing these kinds of scenes! Anyway, hopefully you found it alright. If you have any constructive feedback on how I could improve this dynamic of writing, please please do let me know in a review! I would appreciate it deeply.**

**So yeah, Review! :)**

**Live nice and have a great day!**


	4. Hide and Seek

**A/N: HELLO FRIENDS! Hehe are you proud of me, this is quite a speedy update right? I tried my best to allocate time this week to writing so yeah, I'm getting there! Anyway, this was another hard chapter to write but I hope you all enjoy it! :)**

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**Hide and Seek**

Caspian's POV

"Susan!"

I yelled out to my wife from my position at the base of the rock she was standing on, just after impaling a goblin right through its chest.

She notched her arrow and shot it swiftly, striking a werewolf in its head. She then looked down at me and smiled for a fleeting moment, probably out of relief since she was always worrying about me.

"Can you spot them from up there?"

She knew exactly who I was talking about, and looked around the battleground intently. Meanwhile, a dwarf had sneaked up on me and tried to stab me in my side, but I had good reflexes and also managed to hear his panting, so luckily I blocked his blow right on time. He grunted and tried to strike me again, but clearly he was not that strong as I was able to knock him over with one firm shove. His head hit a rock and he knocked out, blood oozing onto the grass under him.

I looked back up to Susan to find her turning back and looking down at me at the same time, but also shaking her head with a look of distress. I groaned and turned back to the battle going on around me.

We could not just keep fighting their soldiers forever; we had to get to Jadis and Jadin themselves.

_We take them out, we win._

We had a barricade of soldiers defending our forts, and they were some of the best fighters we had, but even they were not infinite nor invincible. If that barricade broke and the enemies invaded our forts, we were doomed.

_Come on you 2 slimy cowards, where are you hiding?_

* * *

Peter's POV

"Aaaaah!"

I yelled as I swung my sword at a huge minotaur, who unfortunately had a heavier and mightier axe and so was very close to slicing my head off. He blocked my strike and pushed me away, immediately plunging his axe towards me but I was able to duck barely in time.

_He was stronger, but I was faster._

Before he could even realise what I was doing, I plunged my sword into his leg, causing him to roar out in pain and drop his axe.

_This was my shot._

I straightened back up and drove my sword straight into his heart, going as deep as I could just for extra measure. He dropped to the floor in a second, and I panted as I felt my arms throb from the excruciating battle I had just engaged in.

Unfortunately, my stallion was knocked out by a bite to its neck from a wolf earlier, and so I was left only with my legs, strong by themselves but useless in such a war.

I looked around at all my warriors, some fighting valiantly but others dropping like flies.

I could not just let this go on, at this rate we would be wiped out soon enough. They were greater in numbers, and we were running out of backup strategies.

I had asked Caspian to ask Susan to pinpoint Jadis and Jadin from her vantage point, but just as I was beginning to worry why he was not back yet, I heard him call out to me from behind.

I turned and just as I feared, he shook his head.

_Damn it!_

"What do we do now Peter?"

I was about to reply when I noticed a goblin heading towards Caspian from behind, so I shoved him aside and stabbed it right in its gut. I looked back to Caspian, who nodded in thanks while looking a bit shocked from nearly being impaled from the back.

"Where's Lorenzo?" I asked, thinking about one of our backup strategies of him leading his group of men away from the battle ground towards a nearby canyon, drawing the enemies away as well. There was a river there which would allow Ella to use her magic, and also hopefully it was outside the forcefield which would allow Serena and her dragons to help us.

"He's in the fort. Badly injured, took a blow to the head."

_Darn_!

Just as I was about to inquire about Edmund, I saw him emerging from the fort ahead of us and running towards us, striking down a few dwarves and goblins effortlessly along the way who tried to jump him.

"What's the situation?" He asked once he reached us, panting but fully focused.

"We can't locate Jadis and Jadin. Right now, our best chance is to try to either break the forcefield or find some way to get out of it so that Serena and the dragons can help us. But before that one of us needs to gather men and draw them to the canyon."

Edmund nodded in understanding, frowning as he always did when he thought hard, though I noticed he seemed a bit panicked which he usually wasn't in a battle, one of his best strengths.

_Then I realised…_

"Where's Ella?"

He looked back at me and clenched his jaw.

"Using her powers like that weakened her too much, she's in the fort."

I gave him a look of sympathy, but this was no time to be emotional or worried, and he knew that as well as I did which was why he brushed it off quickly.

It then struck me that if Ella was in the fort then there would be no point drawing them out to the canyon, it would at best distract and delay the enemies fighting but ultimately it would still not do us much good.

"We have to find them Pete." Caspian told me, urgency and panic clear in his voice.

Before I could reply, however, a pack of werewolves had managed to reach us amidst all the fighting and suddenly lunged at us.

I felt a sharp sting in my side as a claw scraped against my skin, but my focus quickly shifted to driving my sword into the side of my attacker, eliciting a satisfying yelp that indicted my stab was effective.

I noticed 2 werewolves targeting Edmund and while I knew he could handle it, my overprotective brotherly instinct kicked in and I sliced through one of the wolves from behind, causing him to drop to the ground in a heartbeat. Just as I did that, Edmund also managed to strike down the other werewolf, albeit with a bit of struggle as it was much bigger.

He panted and looked back at me, and as he glanced at the werewolf I helped take out, I knew what was coming.

"You know I could've handled it right?"

_Yup_.

"Uh, if you don't mind,"

The distraught voice from behind us made us turn to find Caspian and his sword locked with the claw of another werewolf, who was trying its best to lower its paw and slice clean through Caspian.

"I mean, please don't let me interrupt your brotherly conversation, but a little help would be nice!"

Edmund and I looked at each other, both of us knowing exactly what the other was thinking and planning to do. The werewolf had noted Caspian's call for help and swiftly turned around, but only to be met with 2 swords right in its chest.

Once the werewolf dropped to the ground, we both looked back at Caspian who was panting and staring at the werewolf. He looked up at us and noticed our raised eyebrows at his rather embarrassing call for help.

"What, it was really strong!"

I shook my head in amusement but quickly remembered the predicament we were in. Caspian was right about what he was saying before we were interrupted.

_I did not like the idea of Jadis and Jadin hiding._

_Something was terribly wrong. _

* * *

Lucy's POV

"You."

I pushed myself off the ground swiftly, trying my best to overcome the sensation of my legs giving way under me. After all, it had just felt like someone had set my heart on fire.

As I looked into the eyes I never thought I would see again, a whole mixture of emotions overcame me.

Shock.

Confusion.

Sadness.

Rage.

He just stood there, staring back at me, a somewhat alarmed and worried expression on his face as he breathed heavily. He looked like he was trying to say something from the way his mouth was slightly ajar. But nothing came out.

I did not know what I wanted to do.

I wanted to slap him, kick him, and stick my dagger right into his heart. But I also wanted to break down and grab him by the collar and ask him why.

As all these thoughts went through my mind, he suddenly took a shaky step back, and then another, and before I knew it he was running away.

_Oh no, no he can't escape this time._

My legs kicked right into motion and I ran as fast as I could, dodging the fighting around me as best as I could as I tried to follow him. Of course he was faster, but that did not deter me.

_I had to catch him._

_I didn't exactly know why, but I just had to._

He ran without looking back, and while at first I thought he was just running away from me, I soon realised he was in fact running a certain route, with a certain destination in mind. We were getting further and further from the main battlefield, and soon he had disappeared into the peripheral forest.

Once he had gone in and I followed suit, I had lost him. The forest was too thick and not as lit up as well due to the dense canopy, so it was hard to see anything clearly. But I was smart, and so I listened intently for his footfalls on the crunchy undergrowth, and I followed the dull but audible sound.

I did not know where I was running or even what I was going to do or say once or if I had caught up to him. But I kept going; there was just something that was urging me to get to him, to see him, when suddenly…

"Ow!"

I yelped out as I tripped over what felt like a root, causing me to land face first onto the ground. I winced and squeezed my eyes shut in pain as some rocks and twigs cut me when I fell, as well as from the throbbing sensation in my twisted ankle. I set my palms on the ground and slowly pushed myself up, but as I opened my eyes, I froze when I saw what appeared to be the bottom hem of an icy-blue dress.

"Why, hello Lucy dear."

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**A/N: There you go! I really suck at writing these kind of battle/war chapters but I'm trying hard so I hope they're not too bad! Again, if you have any constructive criticism please please please do share!**

**P.S the offer for the trailer is still open! I am super busy so even though I would love to make the trailer myself I just don't think I can manage that on top of writing as well so yeah, if any kind soul out there could do me this favor I would be immense grateful! If not then, you guys will eventually get a trailer just...not as soon haha :P**

**As per usual, don't forget to REVIEW! **

**Have a lovely week, be nice and stay awesome :)**


	5. Her Fight

**A/N: I'M BACK!**

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**Chapter 5: Her fight**

Edmund's POV

"Caspian, I need you to gather your troops and take them into the forest, it'll lure some of the enemies away and when the space clears out, maybe we will be able to spot Jadis and Jadin better."

Peter's plan made sense, and for an impromptu plan we really did not have much of any other choice, so it was all we had at this point.

_The war was never going to end until we found those 2 cockroaches._

We were currently hidden behind some boulders, and with the battle raging around us, we really had to come up with something fast. Our soldiers were fighting valiantly, but they were not invincible and we could not keep this up forever.

"I can do that Pete, but what if they're not actually on the field? Drawing my men away may just cause even more chaos that would make finding them even harder."

_Good point…_

Peter frowned even more, if that was even possible, and I wracked my brain for any ideas as to how we were going to do this.

Suddenly, a minotaur spotted us and charged towards us, foolishly yelling out so as to alert us to his presence. Caspian sprung up and blocked a blow from the beast before swiftly plunging his sword into its side, making it drop to the ground as it let out an agonizing cry. Caspian then drove his sword right through its heart, ending its pain in the blink of an eye, before ducking back behind the boulders with us.

"How are we going to find them?" Peter muttered, his eyebrows furrowed and his breathing heavy.

I was just about to respond when a voice from behind us stopped me.

"You don't have to."

We froze for a split second before whipping around simultaneously. I could feel my heart clench in my chest and for a moment, it was as if someone had gripped my throat.

There, a mere few feet from us, was the one woman I hated more than anything in the whole world.

"I'm right here, Peter dear."

The three of us slowly rose as we looked on in disbelief. Everything seemed to come to a standstill. At first I thought that it was just the shock that made me feel that way, but then I looked around and noticed that everything did, in fact, come to a standstill.

What was an intense battle a mere few seconds ago around us was now just a silent crowd of soldiers and monsters alike, watching us closely, frozen just as we were. It was just the three of us in front of her, with everyone else encircling us, forgetting in that moment that they were supposed to be killing the enemy in front of them, not watching the spectacle with them.

Jadis just stood there, her hands folded in front of her, poised and calm. After all these years, after everything that happened and all that changed, she had not changed one bit. Her skin was just as pale and translucent as I remembered, her thin lips chapped but twisted into a sick smile.

And her eyes.

Her eyes were as malicious and vile as I recalled them to be when I first realized the evil in her. It was when she had sent out her wolves to hunt down and kill my family, after I had betrayed them for her. There was a certain glint in those emerald eyes that day that made me sick in my gut, and today, that glint was still there, and I still felt sick in my gut.

The last time I saw those emerald eyes, they were Ella's, and it was when she had stuck a sword into her heart.

I felt the rage in me bubble, and before I knew what I was doing, I found myself marching towards her with my sword held tight, ever-ready. However, I was only able to make it a few steps before Peter's arm came in my way and blocked my advance.

I turned and looked at him, but his eyes were still dead-locked on the witch in front of us, squinting in the sunlight but still holding as intense a glare as ever.

"Edmund, it has been a while hasn't it? Congratulations on your baby by the way. What was her name? Talina, right?"

_That was it._

I growled, shoving Peter's arm aside and lunging at my target. But much to my dismay, my arm was yanked back by my elder brother, who finally turned his glare to me.

"Let me go Peter. Let me get her." I spoke through clenched teeth, staring ahead at the monster in front of me who dared to speak of my daughter, that sick smile still on her face as she was clearly amused by Peter holding me back.

"This is not your fight Edmund."

I tore my gaze away from Jadis to Peter, who was looking at me intently, his stare clearly holding only one meaning.

_Stand down._

I knew there was no point arguing with him, for he was right. As much as I wanted to slice off Jadis' head myself, this was Peter's fight to win. So, painfully, I stepped back and sheathed my sword, giving Jadis the dirtiest look I could muster as all I imagined in that moment was her head on a stick.

Peter took a deep breath before slowly advancing forward, his eyes never leaving Jadis and his grip on Rhindon never faltering. He walked until he was right in front of Jadis, his shoulders square and his gaze unfaltering.

"He's right."

I frowned.

It was a female's voice, but as I looked at Jadis, I noticed her mouth hadn't moved at all. She just continued to stare at Peter with her signature smirk.

No, this was not Jadis' voice. This voice was much…sweeter, and lighter.

_Oh no…_

I looked past Jadis and felt my entire body go numb. My heart was racing even faster and everything else around me became a blur, let alone for the one figure ahead that made my chest hurt.

Ella.

"This is not your fight, Edmund. It's mine."

I watched my wife walk up to Jadis, who by now had turned around to face her. I could not see Jadis' face any more, but I could only imagine her smirk to have grown even wider, judging by Ella's glare turning darker. She was standing straight, but I could tell it was hard for her to maintain that stance. She was still weak; she was supposed to be recuperating in the fort…

_Oh god, what the hell was this stupid girl doing?_

"El-"

Ella held up a hand to cut me off, before shifting her gaze from Jadis to me. As she looked me straight in the eyes, I clenched my jaw as I realised there was no way talking her out of this. Ella had this look she always gave me whenever she was being extremely adamant about something, to the extent that she simply would not relent, and that was her exact look at the moment.

"No Edmund, this is my fight, it has been for centuries. This is why I was brought to Narnia in the first place, why I returned even after I died. My entire existence has always only meant one thing."

Ella looked back at Jadis, her outstretched hand that was held up to silence me now straightened out and pointing a single finger at the witch in front of her, who was unnervingly still as a rock.

"Defeating you."

A shiver went down my spine as Jadis released a cold laugh. She then began to circle Ella, who maintained her straight posture and bloodthirsty glare as she circled Jadis as well. I had never seen her look this intense, this determined before, and it honestly scared me just a bit.

Ella looked like she was ready to kill, and I was sure she was.

"It's nice to see you up and about Ella dear, the last time I saw you, you didn't look this good."

My fists clenched and so did Ella's, who narrowed her eyes and stopped in her tracks. Jadis stopped as well. There was an uneasy feeling in the air as the two of them just continued to stare at each other for another few seconds that honestly felt like decades. I looked around briefly and noticed that none of Jadis' followers were doing anything to help her, even though they looked like they desperately wanted to pounce onto all of us and finish us off.

Jadis must have given them orders.

It took me every fiber of my self-control to not run over and kill Jadis myself. She had put me, my family and my kingdom through hell and back countless times. She manipulated me into betraying my family and almost having them killed. She had slaughtered an entire village. She was the reason I had to watch my Ella die.

She had to pay for everything she ever did, and she had to today.

Ella drew out her sword, placing herself in a battle stance. Jadis drew her sword as well, together with her staff.

The staff she had used to stab me.

_I hated that staff._

Ella steadied herself further, gripping onto her sword tightly and breathing heavily. For a moment, her eyes turned to me and I saw the little speck of fear in them which confirmed that no matter how hard her exterior was, she was scared.

_I was scared too._

But right now, my wife needed to know that she could do this. I knew she could, I had complete faith in her. This was her destiny; this was what Aslan had brought her into Narnia and our lives for.

So in the brief moment that our eyes met, all I did was give Ella a single but firm nod, knowing that it was enough for her to understand what I meant.

_She could do this._

Ella took a deep breath and nodded back before setting her sight on her target ahead of her, who was now also in a battle stance, sword in one hand and staff in the other.

With a mighty growl from the woman I loved and a sinister grunt from the woman I loathed, the two swords clashed, and the battle commenced.

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**A/N: MY A LEVELS ARE OVER! it has been soooo long my lovelies and my deepest, most sincere apologies. But I have all the time in the world now, so I'm going to be updating more frequently than ever and I have made it my personal ambition now to make sure every chapter is the best I can deliver to you. I really hope you liked this one but as usual, I always encourage and welcome constructive feedback so please review!**

**Thank you if you have been patient all this while or have supported me through all my stories despite my horrible updating habits. You have no idea how much you mean to me, so thank you.**

**Take care, live well and see you soon! xoxo**


	6. The Ice Queen

**Chapter 6: The Ice Queen**

Susan's POV

The fight had been going on for what felt like eons. One of our fauns had run up to me to inform me of the duel between Ella and Jadis, after which I immediately sprinted to the scene where I found the two of them circling each other. I stood next to my husband, who upon noticing my presence turned to me with a worried look which I shared with him before both of us turned back to our friend currently facing our enemy.

Soon, Ella and Jadis' swords clashed, meaning the duel began. I noticed Edmund standing next to Caspian, and judging by his ragged breaths and the veins in his neck popping out, I knew he was as anxious as ever.

_Of course he would be, this was definitely a fight to the death._

Jadis was swift with her movements, effortlessly slicing through the air and targeting all of Ella's weak spots. But Ella was smart, and I knew her strategy was to tire Jadis out by being more on the defense than offence. Occasionally she would throw a swing of her own out of the blue to catch her off guard, but Jadis was shrewd as well and knew the game she was playing.

At one point, Jadis had knocked Ella down, which made Ed take a step forward in fear as my sister-in-law was now on her back. But quick Ella managed to slide her foot to knock Jadis, causing the regal ice queen to stumble, but sadly not fall.

In that brief moment, Ella managed to jump out and swing at Jadis so fast that she did not see it coming, causing her to trip backwards and drop her sword.

Currently, Jadis was kneeling on the ground, her sword a few feet from her, with Ella towering over her. She still had her staff in one hand though, which she raised and tried to stab Ella with. However, Ella managed to dodge the stab and took advantage of Jadis' position to swiftly move behind her. In a heartbeat, Ella drove her sword right into Jadis' back, its tip emerging from her heart.

Jadis let out a soft gasp, her mouth ajar and her green eyes wide as ever. Blood began to trickle from where the sword came out of her chest, and the blood flowed even more as Ella withdrew her blade. After a few seconds, Jadis dropped to the ground with a firm thud.

For a few seconds, everyone just stared in disbelief at the impaled White Witch, and at the panting victor behind her. The wind was starting to pick up pace now despite the sweltering heat, which caused Ella's hair to blow around her face. She pushed it behind her ear, looked around for a moment and then raised her sword with an attempt of a smile despite her exhaustion.

All around, Narnians erupted in cheers and applause, hailing their new victor. I too beamed as I realised what had just happened. Turning to my right, I jumped into Caspians' arms as he spun me around in ecstasy.

_We won._

_We actually won._

As Caspian put me down, I noticed Peter and Edmund hugging tightly, which made me smile even more.

Once Peter let go of Edmund, he immediately turned to Caspian and they shared a hug as well. Edmund noticed me and took a few steps forward before embracing me. I rubbed my little brother's back, still somewhat in disbelief but nonetheless over the moon that the war that had plagued us for so long was finally over.

_Jadis was finally gone._

_For good._

Once I let go of Edmund, he turned to the front where Ella stood, her sword still raised as she was looking around and smiling at the cheers. Finally her gaze landed on Edmund, and she smiled even wider, if that was possible.

She brought her arm down and walked around Jadis, heading towards us to be embraced by her husband.

I had hugged my husband and 2 brothers, but then it struck me that Lucy was not here. I looked around but she was nowhere in sight.

_Odd._

As I looked around, amidst all the cheering Narnian soldiers, I also noticed Jadis' followers were very still, and were all just staring at Jadis' stiff body intently.

_They had just witnessed their leader be killed._

_Why aren't they trying to retaliate?_

Just as that thought occurred to me, I heard a shout from my side.

"Ella, behind!"

I turned back to find Edmund pointing ahead, a flabbergasted look on his face. Ella froze for a moment mid-stride before turning around. The cheers immediately died down as everyone heard Ed's shout.

There, behind Ella, Jadis slowly rose from her previously dead state on the ground. Getting onto her knees, she pushed herself up until she was standing tall and unfazed, as if she was perfectly fine. Where there was previously a gaping hole in her chest from which blood trickled, now was filled with ice which stopped the bleeding. Her shoulders were square and she stared directly ahead at Ella, who was now very visibly tense and from what I could tell, even shaking a bit.

_Oh great Aslan..._

As the two of them looked at each other, I noticed Jadis had nothing in her hands even though, when she was stabbed, she was still holding onto her staff. Right now, the staff was lying on the ground between Ella and Jadis.

Jadis was squinting in the sunlight at Ella with a little devious smirk on her face before glancing down at her staff. That made Ella glance down at it as well, and I knew what she was thinking, what was going to happen next.

In a split second, Ella and Jadis both reached for the staff, but Ella was faster and as soon as she got her hands onto it, she pierced Jadis right in the heart, right where her sword had previously impaled her and then filled with ice.

This time, Jadis stumbled a few feet back and began to shake violently, her face a picture of shock as her eyes and mouth were wide open. As she shook, I noticed her fingertips were starting to turn icy white, and then her hands, and then her arms.

Soon, the ice was spreading all over her body, reaching her neck and finally travelling up to consume her head in the end. We just watched on in shock as ice devoured her entire body until she was just a solid white statue of herself in her petrified position. I could not help but think of the irony of how the very thing that made Jadis so powerful was now destroying her slowly. Suddenly, the ice crumbled completely, landing in a pile of shattered crystals and flakes on the ground.

All around, all of Jadis' followers started to slowly disintegrate, their bodies fading away into nothing but smoke and ash as they yelled out in pain and defeat.

_They must have been products of Jadis' magic, or at least tied to her in some way..._

_And now that there was no Jadis, they could not exist._

Finally, the field was filled with nothing but Narnian soldiers, piles of ash and a large pile of crumbled ice.

As we stared at the final state of the White Witch, Ella dropped the staff and I noticed her hand still trembling. Edmund walked forward and grabbed onto it, smiling proudly at her before raising it up. Immediately, everyone exploded into cheers once again, and this time even louder than before as this time, we had actually won.

_Jadis was truly gone._

I embraced the person closest to me, who happened to be Peter, and he laughed out merrily as well, hugging me back even tighter. When I pulled away, I noticed his cheeks were wet and his eyes glassy. It was then that I realised the dampness of my own cheeks and that I too could not control the flow of happy tears.

I felt an arm go around my waist and turned to embrace Caspian, but instead was met with his lips which kissed mine so hard I was pretty sure I would appear to have a bruised mouth. I laughed into the kiss at his over-zealous approach of celebrating our victory, but nonetheless, held him tight and savoured this moment of uncontrollable happiness.

_The war was finally over._

_We truly won._

* * *

Edmund's POV

I couldn't believe it.

As the crowd around us erupted into cheers, Ella and I continued staring at the pile of shattered ice in front of us.

_That was Jadis._

_That was all she was now._

_Shattered ice._

_I guess even in death she stuck true to her title of the Ice Queen._

I turned to Ella to find her eyes glued to where her greatest arch nemesis previously stood. I was still holding tight onto her hand which could not stop shaking, so I pulled her to me and threw my arms around her, hugging her with all the joy I had.

"You did it." I whispered into her ear, holding her even tighter as my pride for her swelled.

Ella hugged me back but not as tightly, which was a little odd since she always returned my hugs with as much enthusiasm and passion as I put in them.

_Perhaps it was just exhaustion._

I pulled back and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, wanting to gaze into those blue eyes I adored so much but sadly, were currently downcast. I leaned in to give her an "I'm-so-proud-of-you-and-I-love-you-so-much" kiss, but just as I did, she moved her head away.

"El, what's wrong?"

She responded with nothing but a lip bite, her eyes still looking down at our feet.

I lifted her chin with my finger so that she could look at me. Normally, I could read her eyes effortlessly but this time, this time there was something in them that I could not quite decipher. I knew there was uneasiness, but still, why or what kind, I could not make out. And that worried me a lot.

_Something was definitely off._

"El, talk to me, what's wrong?" I cooed, really not liking the way she was nervously biting her lip.

She took in a deep breath, noticing my worry, and immediately feigned a little laugh.

"N-nothing, I'm just tired. I was already weak before the duel and now-"

"Well then come on, let's get you some rest." I interjected, realizing my suspicion of her exhaustion was right.

_Somewhat_.

But as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to the forts through the cheering soldiers, I knew deep down that she was just saying that to cover up for why she was really feeling uneasy.

_And I was going to find out the reason one way or another._

But at the moment, my wife was exhausted and I needed to get her into a bed.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews would really make my day! :)**


	7. A Celebration of Thoughts

**A Celebration of Thoughts**

Peter's POV

To say our celebratory feast was grand would be an understatement.

All around, creatures and people danced merrily to the music as the badger band played on. The Great Hall had never been so lively and filled with jest. Susan really went all out with the decorations, with golden and silver streamers everywhere and flowers in every corner of the hall.

It had been a week since Jadis splendidly collapsed into a heap of ice, also known as the best day Narnia had ever seen. Since then, Susan sort of went a bit psychotic with her planning, sending out invitations that very night to every corner of the lands and planning the menu of the grand feast the very next day, not to mention all the flowers and streamers and lights and costumes and decorations.

Of course the entire kingdom could not be invited to the castle, which was why Susan even arranged for grand celebrations around all the villages and forests, with bonfires and music and general festivity all around.

There was even a fire sculpture of Aslan burning in the corner of the Great Hall, specially crafted by one of the phoenixes at Susan's behest, and thus inextinguishable.

I suggested an ice sculpture since that was the more common thing, which made my dear little sister almost chew my ear off.

I sipped my wine and watched as a dryad tried to get Trumpkin to dance, and while he relented at first, putting up his usual stern façade, he finally gave in and let loose, making me smile.

I was currently leaning against a pillar, watching my friends and comrades properly celebrate our victory. I took in a deep breath, relishing in the reason for our happiness.

_Jadis was gone._

_Once and for all._

_The greatest enemy of my kingdom was dead._

Suddenly, I felt a hand go around my arm, and I turned to my right to find a beautiful set of violet eyes looking up at me.

"May I ask why my king is so lost in thought on what is supposed to be the happiest night of this kingdom?"

I smiled and held Serena's hand, noticing how her deep blue dress really made her eyes pop and contrasted her creamy complexion perfectly.

My, what a beauty.

"When your greatest enemy is finally defeated, you can't help but think about that fact constantly. It's almost hard to believe, because in the past we would think we defeated Jadis but-"

"Hey, enough." Serena cupped my cheek and made me look at her as my gaze had drifted to the ground while I was speaking.

"Jadis is really gone, there's no doubt in that."

"Yeah, but what about Jadin? We haven't captured him yet. And last time, he was the one who brought her back." I recalled just exactly how he did that, cringing at the memory of Ella being possessed. I remembered how shaken up Ed was, and then the thought occurred to me of the possibility of Jadin repeating history, possibly with someone else…

My head whipped back to Serena and before I knew what I was doing, I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight.

"Whoa whoa! Pete-" Serena giggled, hugging me back, but I was not laughing at all. If what happened to Ella repeated with Serena, I honestly would never be able to forgive myself.

"I can't lose you." I whispered as I set my chin on top of her head, enjoying the feeling of her in my arms, wishing I could just stay like this forever.

I felt Serena tighten her arms around me for a moment but then she began to pull away, much to my dismay.

She had an amused grin on her face, no doubt because of my sudden paranoia, but it was adorable so I let it pass even though it was a knock at my ego.

"I'm right here. Jadin can't do anything to me. Remember, her forces were completely wiped out when she was destroyed. Even if Jadin is out there, he's definitely too weak for us and I'm confident we'll capture him soon."

I sighed and nodded, knowing Serena always focused on the positive and so no matter what worry I voiced, she'd find a way to make it okay. I held her shoulders and squeezed them a bit, so grateful to Aslan that he gave me such a wonderful wife.

"I love you, you know that right?"

Serena simply smiled her angelic smile and leaned on her tiptoes, giving me a sweet peck.

"Now come on!"

Before I knew what she was doing, I was dragged onto the dance floor and Serena was skipping around me to the upbeat music. I laughed and caught her wrist, spinning her around and engaging in a jovial couple dance. We were clapping and spinning and laughing, and all I could think of was how happy Serena looked, and how I hoped that look stayed forever.

* * *

Caspian's POV

I looked around the hustle and bustle of the Great Hall, seeking out Susan who oddly I had not seen the entire evening. There were just too many foreign delegates here that I had to meet for formality's sake, but now that I was finished with that, I wanted to spend the rest of my time with someone whose company I actually did enjoy, and the first person that came to mind was, of course, my wife.

I spotted Lorenzo by a pillar chatting up some pretty lady from Archenland and shook my head. While I was amused by his petty flirting, there was a part of me that was sad at the same time. I knew in all honesty that his heart was still broken from Camilla's death and it would be a long while before he could sincerely open himself up again to the prospect of finding love.

I continued scanning the room, looking past Peter and Serena dancing happily together until I finally found who I was looking for. With a grin, I made my way through the dancing crowds to the opposite side of the hall where a beautiful lady stood in a deep indigo dress, her hair in a demure bun and her face the picture of an angel as she watched the celebrations.

"There you are," I murmured, coming up beside her and putting my arm around her waist. She was startled a bit but the moment she realised it was me, she broke into a smile and leaned up, pecking me on the cheek.

"I was beginning to think I would not see you at all tonight." She spoke softly.

"Impossible." I replied, grinning down at how her eyes twinkled as if there was some magic in them.

"So what are you doing here in the corner alone anyway? Where are Ella and Lucy?" I asked, looking around and noticing both of my sister-in-law's were not to be seen.

"Well I think Ella is on the balcony and Lucy…" Susan trailed off, her gaze averting to the floor as she seemed to go into thought. She then looked around briefly before looking back at me, one of her brows crinkled.

"Strange, I actually haven't seen Lucy the entire celebration."

I frowned, for that was strange indeed. Lucy was usually, in fact, the life of any celebration, always either dancing merrily or chatting with everyone. But now, she was nowhere in sight.

"When did you last see her?"

"Well, I saw her talking to Lorenzo along a corridor as I was making the preparations earlier today. I would've talked to her but I was too caught up in everything that had to be done."

Susan bit her lip, looking to the ground again as she fidgeted with her glass of wine. I too started thinking and then realised that immediately after Ella defeated Jadis, Lucy was not there as well. Peter said she was probably in the forts, helping the wounded to heal as he instructed her to stay there. It was only when we were making our way back to the castle did we see her walking with Lorenzo , the two of them caught up in an intense discussion. I did find it strange that lately, Lucy was disappearing quite a lot.

"I'm sure she's just socialising around or perhaps outside getting a breather." I murmured, though I did not really believe my own words as I still felt a bit concerned.

"I don't know Cas, I'm a little worried…"

"Su, Lucy's a big girl. She doesn't need us fretting over her all the time. I'm sure she's alright." I put my arm around her shoulder and gave her a little reassuring squeeze. This was a night of joyous celebration and I did not like seeing Susan stress or fret.

She did enough of that on a daily basis.

It was not like I did not care about Lucy, I too was quite curious as to why she was not skipping around happily as usual. But then I also knew that Lucy often expressed her annoyance as to how everyone always babied her and worried over her, and how she was grown up now and could take care of herself.

So, I put my worry aside and just had faith that Lucy was fine.

* * *

Ella's POV

I sighed as I leaned against the balcony barrier, staring at the glistening waves lapping lazily against the shore. There was a soothing rhythm in their motion, and perhaps it was also my connection to water which made me feel really calm as I tuned out the celebrations and just listened to the periodic melody of the gentle sea and winds.

But as calm as my mind was, there was still a little nagging voice at the back of my head that refused to shut up.

I groaned, shaking my head and focusing intently on the sky now instead, this time trying to count the stars. It was an impossible task that required great concentration, and thus perfect to distract me from that annoying nagging voice.

I managed to get until 67, but then that voice came back and this time I was really annoyed. I groaned in frustration and dropped my head into my hands.

_Stop it stop it stop it!_

_Just. Stop. Thinking._

"You know-"

I gasped and jolted, turning to the abrupt voice that startled me which was to my right.

"You look like a crazy person."

I let out a huff and rolled my eyes, realising it was only Edmund who was now beside me, his elbows propped up against the barrier so that he was in a similar position as me.

"Why is it that during every celebration, I always find you outside, thinking about something or the other?" He questioned with a quirked eyebrow, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Because I'm thinking of how to get away from you, isn't that obvious?" I sardonically replied, looking back at the stars.

"Hey that's fine, I'd rather be inside having a good time but you see, you're my wife and so appearances and stuff-"

"Well pardon me for not giving 2 sticks about appearances. I'm not that shallow a person you see."

"Could've fooled me! This coming from the woman who married me solely for my good looks."

"Good looks? Ha! Don't make me chuck. If I wanted to marry someone for their good looks I would've married your brother."

"Ah but see the problem then would be that your child would turn out to be half-monkey!"

"Edmund, if Peter's a monkey that means you're a monkey. Brothers and blood, remember?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you? Pete's adopted."

By this point I burst out laughing. It was hard enough keeping up the banter with a straight face and just looking ahead, but finally I could not hold it in anymore. I heard Edmund laugh as well from beside me, but just as I was about to turn to face him, I felt a searing pain in my head.

_Okay you stupid voice, now I can't laugh as well?_

I stopped and rubbed my temples, the throbbing in the back of my head now pronounced and very painful to say the least, making me squeeze my eyes and clench my teeth.

"El?"

I felt Ed's hands on my shoulders, turning me to face him. I clutched onto his shoulders, feeling weak from my migraine. He cupped my cheek and lifted my head, and I knew he wanted me to look at him.

I knew he was really worried.

"I'm fine I'm fine, just a headache is all."

I finally opened my eyes and looked up at him. He was frowning intensely, his brows in a knot and his eyes fraught with concern.

"You know by now I can tell when you're lying right? Come on, that's not it. The whole week while preparations for tonight's celebrations were going on, you've been off. What's wrong?"

I was immensely glad for Edmund's strong arms in that moment as they held me tightly, for I felt more drained than ever. He was right, I was feeling strange the whole week but I always used the preparations as an excuse to avoid Edmunds' questions. By the look he was giving me, I knew he was not just going to let this go, and now I had no choice but to tell him the truth.

"It's…it's silly and well, it makes no sense but-"

"Ella, you know you can tell me anything. Now come on."

I took a deep breath and looked back into his dark eyes, tightening my grip on his arms.

"Something's wrong Ed. Ever since Jadis' defeat, I've just had this annoying nagging thought at the back of my mind that something's not right."

"Oh El, you're just not used to the idea that she's finally gone. I mean, this has been going on for so long and now suddenly, in a flash, this threat is gone. It's-"

"No, no you don't get it. It feels like, we haven't won. Like, there's something worse to come. Much, much worse."

"El-"

"No Edmund, I-"

"Shh," Ed put two fingers over my lips, silencing me immediately. He looked me deep in the eyes, letting me know that he really meant for me to keep quiet.

"Jadis is gone. Tonight is supposed to be a night of celebration, a happy night! If I were you, I'd rather spend this lovely evening with my lovely husband than out here fretting unnecessarily over needless worries."

I glared at him and smacked his hand away from my mouth.

"I'm not choosing to be like this, you dolt. You just said I can tell you anything, and now that I've told you, you don't even care! Honestly Edmund it annoys me so much whenever you do this, why can't you just acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, there's a chance I can be justified in feeling this way. Or perhaps just try to help me understand why I'm having these thoughts because I don't even understand myself and do you know what that's like, to think something but not know why you're thinking it. A husband is supposed to care about these kind of things that worry his wife and honestly if you love me at all you would at least-"

My rather hysterical rant was cut short as his lips suddenly covered mine. I stiffened for a moment, upset that he was trying to shut me up, but then I felt his arms wrap around my waist and pull me close to him gently. I felt all his love and affection as his lips softly caressed mine, and I finally melted, responding back with as much love.

He slowly pulled away after a moment and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Don't ever question my love for you Ella. Ever."

I sighed and looked down, a bit embarrassed at my rather heated rant, but he lifted my chin and forced me to look back at him.

"I'm sorry if I was a bit insensitive. You're right, I shouldn't just dismiss your concerns like that. It's just- Ella for the first time in a long time, I actually feel safe. I've wanted Jadis dead ever since I was 10, and now she finally is, for good. You remember what the Professor said, death by her own staff means there's no way she can ever return. Now I know that she can never hurt Narnia or my family, especially you and Talina. And thinking about all of this, I just wanted to be with you and celebrate and for once just not worry about witches and curses and danger and all of that. That's all."

I gave him a small smile, and internally berated myself for making Edmund think about Jadis on a night like this. I knew how troubled he was because of her, how he could never really forgive himself for what he did because of her as long as she was alive and a very real threat. And now that she was gone, it must have been like a huge mountain was lifted off his shoulders, and an age-long ache was cured.

_And then I go and ruin his happy night._

_Great job Ella._

"Listen, we'll figure out this…nagging thought of yours later. But for now, all I want to do is have a dance with my beautiful wife. Will you grant me that one wish?"

Edmund stepped back and extended his hand, bowing slightly with that adorable smirk on his face I loved so much.

"Cheesehead," I ruffled his hair and immediately ran away back into the Great Hall, giggling at his annoyed face. A part of me felt bad for leaving him there like that but I couldn't help it.

After all, I was Edmund Pevensie's wife.


	8. Mortis Telvol

**A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! My resolution is to update more, and now that A levels are over and I only start uni in 10 months, I'm pretty confident I can stick to that :D**

**I've already planned out the whole story so I really hope you guys will like this, I'm planning to go big since this is the last one of the series ;)**

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**Chapter 8: Mortis Telvol**

Lorenzo's POV

"WHAT!"

I winced at Peter's outburst, gulping a bit as I maintained my stance with my hands folded in front of me, mostly to hide how sweaty my palms were.

I briefly looked around at the rest of the royals to see how they all reacted to the news I had just shared. Serena was biting her lip, glancing at Peter who looked like he was about to implode. Edmund looked just as bewildered as Peter, if not more. Ella and Susan were both frowning in utter confusion and Caspian seemed to be in a state of literal shock as his mouth was agape.

"You're telling me, that Lucy ran away and you didn't do anything about it?!"

Pete's voice got progressively louder as he spoke, to the point where he yelled out his accusation at me.

I took a deep breath and quickly thought of the best phrasing for my answer which would not result in the very livid king before me cutting me to pieces.

"Queen Lucy came to me yesterday, while the preparations for the Ball were being made, and asked me for a favour. All she said was that she had some urgent business to attend to and she had to see to it immediately. She refused to reveal anything more. And she made me swear not to tell anyone."

I spoke slowly, careful with my words for I knew everyone was pretty distraught, but at the same time being as honest as possible. I knew Peter had a pretty bad habit of jumping to drastic conclusions so I decided to just answer questions instead of reveal everything at once.

Peter glanced back at the note in his hand, which was now pretty crumpled thanks to him clenching his fist. His eyes scanned the writing again, and I too remembered what was written on the parchment I was instructed to give Peter.

_Please do not come looking for me. I will be home soon._

_I love you all._

_Lucy._

"So…"

I turned to Susan who was looking at the ground and clearly processing everything in her head as she slowly questioned me.

"You're saying, Lucy told you she had to do something, passed you this note and told you to give it to us only the morning after the Ball?"

"Yes." I replied and nodded firmly.

"You didn't ask her what she had to do? Where she was going, why she couldn't tell any of us? Why didn't you inform one of us?!"

"I did ask. I was concerned too, but no matter how much I prodded she was adamant on not saying anything more. As for telling someone, I would have, but…"

I trailed off, remembering Lucy's words and just how much they scared me.

"But?" prodded Ella.

"She told me it would be too dangerous if I did."

I regretted those words the moment I said them, for everyone in the room immediately blanched. I looked down, knowing this was not going well.

"So my little sister is in danger and you KNEW she was going off on some mission alone, but you did nothing about it?"

Peter spoke low but the rage was very clear in his voice. I dared not look up because I knew I would not be able to look him properly in the eye.

I knew he was blaming me for what Lucy did.

"Pete…" Serena spoke softly and I was sure she was holding his arm, trying to calm him down as he breathed heavily.

"Arrest him."

My head snapped up and I looked at Peter in shock, who was in return glaring at me as if he wanted to stick a sword through me right then and there. From my peripheral vision I could make out the guard at the door, my friend Keegan, hesitantly coming towards me.

"Peter!"

"He withheld information from us about a queen being in danger, which is as good as treason against Narnia!"

I could not take my eyes off of Peter, utterly stunned at what he was saying.

_Treason?!_

I felt Keegan take hold of my arm, and my heart was racing unimaginably. There were so many things I wanted to say, but for some reason my brain could not process them all properly and in the end I just spat out the one very clear thought that was screaming in me.

"How dare you!"

I shook Keegan off and marched up to Peter, but Caspian, who was standing next to Peter, quickly blocked my advance as he stepped in front of me and grabbed my arm.

"Lorenzo…"

"How dare you accuse me of treason!" I yelled at Peter over Caspian's shoulder, ignoring the latter's attempt to calm me down.

_No, no way I was going to calm down._

_I was a man of honour._

_I fought for Narnia, I put my life on the line for the kingdom and for this family, for him!_

_And he turns around and labels me a traitor?!_

"All I am guilty of is actually listening to Lucy, something none of you ever do!"

Peter's glare turned into a look of appalment, but I was too upset to take back my words. No matter how harsh they sounded, they were true. I remembered how she spoke to me that day in the corridor, how upset she was when I asked her why she didn't want to tell the rest of her family.

_"Oh, for them to worry over me and baby me and smother me as usual? No Lorenzo, this is something I need to do myself. And if I tell my family, do you honestly think they'd let me go on my own? They think I'm weak, they don't believe I can do anything because I'm the baby of the family. Besides, it's too dangerous if you tell them. So please Lorenzo. Please, for me."_

Caspian was still holding my arm so I turned to find him looking at me intently. I knew him since we children, and I knew that look very well.

_Enough_.

I breathed deeply as I tried to calm myself. The whole room was silent and everyone was just looking at me with the same expression, the very one Peter had.

"Listen, I know all of you are concerned about Lucy. So am I. Perhaps you forget, but she is not just my queen, she is my dear friend. But I refuse to go to jail and be accused of treason because I am guilty of keeping a promise, or believing in her to be strong enough to do something on her own."

By the end of my speech, I was looking Peter right in the eye. He looked hurt and angry, but I knew he could see the truth in what I was saying.

There was a lapse of silence again, and it seemed like Peter and I were having a staring contest. I was not going to look away though; I was not ashamed of what I did. Everyone else seemed to just be watching us wearily, though I knew they were all in heavy thought, reflecting on my words.

Suddenly, a knock on the door broke the pregnant pause.

I turned to find the Professor standing at the doorway, looking a bit hesitant as he sensed the tension in the room.

"Professor?"

Caspian finally let go of my arm, though by that point it had actually slipped my mind that he was still holding me.

"Your Majesties, I heard about Queen Lucy's secret departure." He spoke in his thick Telmarine accent.

I internally groaned at the prospect of word of this spreading around. If this got out of the castle and reached the people, it would certainly stir up confused and worried sentiments.

"Is there something you know Professor?" Edmund asked.

The professor glanced at me briefly before looking back at Edmund.

"Yes," he throatily replied.

Everyone visibly perked at his answer, including me.

"Sir Lorenzo was not the only one Queen Lucy spoke to."

* * *

Susan's POV

We were all currently sitting by the fireplace in Peter's and Serena's room, where we usually sat to discuss important, personal matters.

Lorenzo and Peter were sitting on opposite couches and since their feud that occurred a few minutes before and a few feet away, they refused to look at each other. Peter was in fact, still seething a bit and Lorenzo was still scowling. Serena was next to Peter and clasping his hand, rubbing his knuckles to try to calm him down.

Edmund and Ella were sitting next to each other, and while both of them looked worried, Ella had an especially concerned look on her face, her brows in a knot and her gaze on the ground as she bit her lip. Edmund seemed to be aware of this as he took her hand and squeezed it.

Caspian was next to me and a small part of me was actually quite upset with him. I knew there was something wrong the moment I couldn't find Lucy at the Ball, but he just shook it off.

_If I had not listened to him, if I had looked for her, if I had found her and talked to her, perhaps…_

"Professor,"

I snapped out of my thoughts to my husband's voice, and looked up at the round man in the middle of the square formation of couches, his hands on his belly as he seemed to be in thought.

"Please, tell us what all you know."

The Professor nodded and I took a deep breath, praying he would not reveal something that would be too much for me to handle.

"After the battle, Queen Lucy came to me with questions about a magic I had never heard of before. Mortis Telvol. I did not know about it at first, so she asked me to find out about it if I could. And she ordered me to keep it a secret."

I noticed Peter glance at Lorenzo, and Lorenzo looked at him as well. Luckily the exchange was fleeting and they both looked back at the Professor, this was certainly not the time for another heated argument between those two.

"After a few days of reading and researching, I finally came across the magic in one of my oldest books. Mortis Telvol is a curse of dark magic, and one of the oldest and most dangerous curses to ever exist."

My heart dropped to my stomach and I felt Caspian's hand take mine and squeeze it. While I was upset with him before, in that moment I was thankful for that reassurance because it felt like I was going to explode with worry.

"She asked me more about it, but unfortunately the book I had held limited information on it. Queen Lucy was desperate, so I finally told her about a sorcerer I knew from long ago who knew everything there was to know about all the magic of Narnia. I suspect she has gone off to seek him."

"Who is this sorcerer?" Peter asked in a rather demanding tone which I normally would scold him for, but given the circumstances, I knew he did not mean ill but was just really anxious.

"His name was Coriarkin. He was an acquaintance who taught me quite a lot about Narnia's magic. Unfortunately once the Telmarines invaded Narnia, he disappeared and I haven't seen or heard from him since. I could not tell Queen Lucy where he lived, but my guess is she-"

"Decided to find out on her own." Ella finished for him, to which he nodded slowly.

"What does it mean?" Serena asked hesitantly, "Mortis Telvol?"

The Professor took a deep breath and looked gravely at all of us.

"The Holder of Death."

* * *

**A/N: Please let me know what you think of the story so far, as y'all know, I absolutely love constructive feedback so please review!**


	9. Rescues

**A/N: HELLO! I actually went on vacation to Europe and I returned last week, so sorry for the little gap. But here's the next chapter, so enjoy!**

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**Chapter 9: Rescues**

Lucy's POV

"Ow!"

I grunted as I landed on the rugged ground, my palms breaking my fall but bearing the consequence of some cuts and scratches. I turned to sit upright, taking off my boots to examine my feet.

I had been walking for hours through the Western Wood, but it felt like ages. The soles of my feet were already spotting some bruises, for my boots did not exactly have the best padding to put up with the bumpy terrain. The heavy satchel of supplies did not help with the exhaustion, and the fact that the sun was high in the sky made me want to yank my hood off, but I could not risk recognition. There was currently no one around but the Wood was huge and never empty.

_Perhaps I should have just brought Nurisa along with me._

_No, it would've been too obvious and she'd leave tracks._

The last thing I wanted was to be tracked.

I huffed and put my boots back on after messaging my feet for a bit. Standing up, I grabbed my map.

_Oh great, I'm not even halfway there._

I rolled back the map and put it in my satchel, adjusting the strap on my shoulder. With a sigh, I marched forward, wondering if chopping my hand off might have been the easier solution.

I had left the note behind so that my family would not send out any search parties for me, but I also knew Peter far too well.

He never listened to me.

That was why I planned out my route in advance, taking the most convoluted and hidden trail I knew of through the Woods which would make finding me extremely hard. I had ridden through these woods more than any of my family members, even more than Edmund. I knew this place the best, so there really was no way they could find me easily.

_And I really hoped they didn't._

I glanced down at the ugly scar on my hand grimaced, closing my palm into a fist.

Suddenly, there was a snap of a twig. I froze, becoming hyper-aware of my surroundings. I slowly looked around, scanning the trees for any sign of another presence. At the same time, my hand crept to my hip where my sword rested. My dagger rested on my other hip but I decided to be more protected with my rather bigger and sharper weapon.

Finally, I spotted the source of the sound in the distance.

A fox.

Well, at least it looked like one. It was in the shadows and its back was to me, but it seemed to just be minding its own business. I let out the breath I did not even know I was holding, a wave of relief washing over me.

I deliberated for a moment, considering whether to approach it or just go on without being noticed. The usual me would definitely go up to it, for I loved chatting to the wood animals. But then I remembered why I was in the woods in the first place, and I sighed, deciding to just let it go and move on with my mission.

I quietly stepped to my right, recalling a side path that branched out from my main trail for a bit before joining back with it a few yards further. It was my best bet to be unnoticed by the creature.

Unfortunately, my next step was on a particularly crispy leaf that let out a pretty loud crunch. The fox's head snapped to my direction and I froze again.

_Maybe I'll just have a quick chat now that it's noticed me._

But as it peered at me through the shadows, it slowly stepped into the patchy sunlight that shone through the canopy, revealing itself fully and making me gasp.

It wasn't a fox.

It was a wolf.

My breathing quickened as it starting to growl, lowering its head and shoulders a bit as it stared viciously at me.

_Oh no._

I broke out into a run, immediately hearing his bark which meant that it was chasing me now. There was no way I could out-run a wolf, but thankfully there was initially some distance between us which helped me greatly.

As I ran, all my concentration was on my feet, making sure I dodged every rock and fallen branch. Not running fast enough was one thing, but if I fell over, I was done for.

_Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip…_

I chanted to myself over and over in my head, occasionally startled to push my feet further by the nearing growls behind me.

Suddenly, I heard a loud whimper, followed by a thud.

After that, there were no more sounds of growls or running paws behind me, so I came to a stop.

Catching my breath, I slowly turned around, drawing my sword just in case I was not out of danger yet. A few feet from me, the wolf that was chasing me moments earlier lay on the ground in a pool of blood. I cautiously walked back to it, noticing an arrow sticking out of its left side.

I immediately turned to my right, looking through the trees for my supposed savior, though I clutched my sword in case I was too presumptuous to give that title at this point.

"I'm up here."

A voice from above startled me, and I looked up to the low branch of a tree right next to me. I had to step back a few steps to properly see who it was, but once I did, my breath hitched in my throat.

"Keladry?"

* * *

Ella's POV

"How bad is it?"

Peter anxiously looked at Gregory, one of our high-chair counsels, who clasped his hands in front of him on the table and pursed his lips.

"Pretty bad, Your Majesty. They're threatening violence and attacks, and they've already set up camp near the Dancing Lawn."

Peter sat back in his chair and rubbed his temple, sighing heavily.

"These Calormen people, why are they always so fussy?"

"Peace talks, would be what I suggest Sire. They like you, if you can convince them that Narnia is more than willing to keep up our usual trade, with a few terms and conditions, I am positive they'll listen and back off. They're more brawn than brains after all."

Peter nodded thoughtfully at Trumpkin and tapped his fingers on the table, clearly thinking through everything.

"That's right," Susan piped in, "If you mention our difficulties after the war, they'll probably sympathize and allow us our leeway. It's just a matter of tactfully talking to them."

"Alright, we leave tomorrow for the peace talks. It's at least a 3-day journey so I want to leave as soon as possible. Send them a raven with our message that we will be coming to talk with them."

Gregory nodded and got up, swiftly leaving the room to make the arrangements.

"Susan, you're good at these peace talks so I want you to come with me."

Susan nodded with a smirk.

"Also to make sure what happened last time doesn't happen again, right?"

Peter rolled his eyes though he succumbed to a small smile. The rest of us chuckled, recalling the incident of Peter using some rather harsh words at a previous peace talk with Archenland that resulted in the princess crying, which needless to say upset the King quite a bit.

"Ed, Ella."

Edmund perked in his seat from beside me, readily looking at Peter. I sat up straight too, though I was less enthusiastic for I had an idea of what he was going to mention.

"I want you guys to take care of the Lucy situation while I'm gone."

Edmund nodded, but I bit my lip.

Lucy explicitly mentioned for us to not look for her. She went through a great deal of trouble to make sure there was no way any of us stopped her or found her. And she was no baby, she knew what she was doing whenever she did something.

"Caspian and Serena, I need you to take over my errands for the next few days. There are some diplomats coming so you'll need to meet them…"

As Peter continued to delegate and discuss tasks and assignments, my thoughts drifted to what he specifically asked of Edmund and me. I knew there was no use talking to Peter about it, he was not a generally stubborn person but he was always adamant when it came to issues concerning Lucy. He would never change his mind on this, and the previous day's episode with Lorenzo just showed how shaken he was from her leaving.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I had not even realised that the meeting was actually concluded, and everyone was leaving to go their own ways. I looked up to find almost everyone had already left the council chamber, with Susan and Edmund being the last ones, besides me, to sift out of the door.

_Now was my chance._

I pushed back my chair and hastily left the chamber. To my right I saw everyone heading towards the Main Wing of the castle, engaged in discussion about all that was to be done, but I could not spot any black hair. I then turned to my left, spotting my husband walking swiftly down the corridors towards the Guard Wing, which meant he was going to set up the search parties immediately.

"Ed!"

I jogged up to him as he turned around.

"No, El."

I frowned, looking up at him.

"What?"

"I know what you're going to say, and I don't agree. You can't fight me on this."

My frown disappeared and was replaced with a rather peeved look. Edmund knew me well, but that didn't mean he could just throw away my concerns and act on his own accord.

"Edmund, you saw the note. Lucy explicitly asked us not to look for her. I mean, there must be some reason. And-"

"Just because she said so, doesn't mean we just sit back and let her walk into danger. I don't know about you but when I found out she has something to do with a curse that means death, I got pretty worried."

"I'm worried too! Edmund, we're all worried about her. I'm not saying we shouldn't be. But that doesn't mean we just disregard what she asks of us and send a manhunt after her."

Edmund folded his arms, looking angrier by the second. I didn't blame him. Lucy was his little sister, and while their relationship was sore in the beginning, he truly cared and worried for her now. Of course as a bigger brother he would want to protect her, just as Peter did.

But I had to be rational, objective one here. Lucy was like my sister, but she was also very smart.

"Lucy knows how to take care of herself."

I spoke my last line quietly but meaningfully, looking him in the eye to make sure he understood where I was coming from.

Edmund's face remained hard, but I knew he was considering my words. He knew I was right. He looked away from me and to the ground, though he maintained his stance.

"Ed, please."

Edmund looked back at me, and while I was expecting him to soften and acknowledge what I was trying to relay, I was taken aback to find his eyes even harder than before.

"I'm sending the search parties out for her. Don't try to stop me again."

With that, he turned around and continued marching down the corridor, this time with his shoulders squared and even more determination in his step.

I watched his back as he walked away from me. At first I was upset, that he didn't listen to me and was acting on emotion rather than rationality. But then I remembered Peter's words.

_You're not the only one who gets to call the shots here, Ed._

* * *

**A/N: Please don't forget to review! :)**


	10. Rifts and Tiffs

**A/N: HI. Yes I have been away forever, yes I am a complete jerk, and yes I am sincerely, truly sorry. I have been so swamped with university and scholarship applications and interviews and just all sorts of stuff so it's been hella crazy. BUT I am back and now my schedule has freed up more which means I can get back to properly paying attention to this. There's also a little bit of good news at the bottom ;)**

**So yeah, hope you enjoy this chap!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Rifts and Tiffs**

Serena's POV 

"ELLA!"

I flinched at the loud boom that echoed through the corridor, knowing exactly who that voice belonged to. Caspian, Ella and I were in the common office chamber, currently going through some trade documents that Peter wanted us to check out. We glanced at one other uneasily, Ella taking in a deep breath and Caspian just looking at her with a glint of pity in his eyes. 3 seconds later the owner of that loud shout barged through the door.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Edmund stormed in and stood right in front of Ella, and the later swiftly stood up, a couple of inches keeping them apart as she looked up at him unwaveringly.

"You know why I did it."

"What gives you the right to cancel the search party order I sent out?"

Edmund's back was currently to me but I could still tell he was seething. Ella's face remained stoic, and her shoulders square.

"You know how our laws work Edmund. Any member of the royal family is able to cancel orders, and Peter put us both in charge of this matter. As long as there is no unanimous decision on a certain action, plan or order, it will not-"

"I know our laws Ella, I don't need you to educate me on them. I meant what were you possibly thinking when you did that. That search party was to find Lucy. My little sister is out there in trouble and you're just sabotaging us trying to find her!"

"For the last time, Ed, Lucy does not _want_ to be found. It's funny, you would think you'd know your own sister better. She would never cut us off like that unless completely necessary. Think about it, think of the lengths she went to to make sure we couldn't find her. What if she really does need to do this on her own, what if us finding her would just make things worse? We need to find out more about this curse and Coriarkin first, so we can get a better idea of what this is all about. But if you-"

"ENOUGH!"

By this point, Caspian and I were completely frozen. I knew Edmund was mad, and I've seen my fair share of this couples' squabbles, but I had never heard Edmund shout at Ella like that.

"Ed, maybe we can discuss this-"

"Stay out of this Caspian."

I glanced at Cas, noticing how he seemed a bit offended but at the same time, he knew this was something we could not exactly interfere in given the heat of the situation.

"There are some things that you do that I don't always agree with, but most of the time I let it slide. But this, this is crossing the line Ella. Lucy is my sister, and she is in danger. I am finding her no matter what, so don't you dare try to sabotage my orders again."

Edmund spoke icily and by the look on Ella's face, it seemed he was glaring harshly at her. He then turned around and started to make his way to the door before Ella stopped him.

"No."

Ed froze, and I gulped.

It was needless to say the tension was thick in the room, but for some reason I had this horrible foreboding feeling that this argument and this whole Lucy situation was not going to end well.

"I understand your concern as her brother. I understand you want her to be safe. But I'm choosing to believe in Lucy and respect what she wants. She doesn't want to be found. If it was something she could not handle herself, she would never leave like this herself. I'm sabotaging your order, but did you stop to think you may be sabotaging her mission by going against her wishes?"

Edmund did not turn around, but I saw him swallow hard. His fists were clenched and it seemed like he was biting his tongue.

"I'm sorry Edmund, but I can't let you send those out those search parties."

Silence followed those words. Seconds passed, and while I felt like saying something to try to disperse the tension and calm down tempers, for some reason words could not come to me. Finally, with his back still to us as he faced the door, Ed replied.

"If anything happens to Lucy, I will never forgive you."

With that, he exited the room and I turned to Ella to find her shed a single tear.

* * *

Lucy's POV

It felt like someone had just punched me in the gut.

My mouth suddenly went dry, my brain unable to string together words for me to speak. My legs felt numb and my palms felt sweaty. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts but one thing was very clear to me.

Keladry had jumped down from the tree and was standing a few feet in front of me.

_The same Keladry who betrayed me._

_The same Keladry who tried to kill my brother._

_The same Keladry who got me into this whole mess._

That was all it took for me to see red and before I even knew what I was doing, I found myself charging forward with a yell, swinging my sword at the blonde boy in front of me who had just saved my life.

But he was swift, and just before I got to slice his throat, he drew his sword and struck it against mine.

Now that I was closer to him, I was looking straight into his eyes. The same deep blue eyes that once made my heart flutter and made me swoon, but now just made my blood boil.

But it was not his eyes that made me livid in that moment, it was the fact that after everything he did to me, he could still look at me unfazed, as if he felt no remorse and had no emotion.

I yelled and struck again, and he blocked my strike once more. This continued for a while, with me screaming in frustration and delivering blow after blow, and him just blocking my every blow calmly without a single sound. My arms were getting tired, but he did not seem bothered at all. Unfortunately, one of my blows was too weak which resulted in him throwing me off balance and me landing on my back.

I looked up to find myself staring at the tip of his sword, panting harder than ever. I still could not make out any emotion in his face, but now I was not angry anymore. Now I too felt nothing for the monster before me.

"Go ahead, run me through." I spat, making sure the venom was clear in my voice.

Keladry quirked his brow and paused for a moment before withdrawing his sword and sheathing it.

"Now why would I save your life just to kill you?"

I frowned, to which he stuck out his hand, making me scoff. For a moment I considered whether this was some sort of twisted joke or trick. But he just remained like that with his outstretched hand, still without a trace of emotion on his face.

I glared at him and pushed myself off the ground, to which he just recoiled his hand and gave a stiff nod. I made sure to put some distance between us once I got up, my guard still up.

"So, what are you doing here? Are you following me?"

I had to figure out some way to get rid of him. I had already tried to kill him and that did not exactly work. Jadis was long gone but that did not mean her darkness was vanquished completely, especially considering this stupid curse she gave me. And Keladry was not good news at all.

"Well, yes and no. I was actually looking for you."

Before I could reply, for the very first thing I was going to say was that he clearly had some plan to help Jadis even after her demise, he quickly continued.

"I'm not Jadis' pawn anymore. She's gone. And I need your help."

I did not even bother holding back my scoff. In fact, I was on the verge of laughing.

_Was this guy for real?_

"You think I'm going to help you? You really think after _everything_, I'd help _you_? The minion of my greatest enemy."

"I do think so, yes, because you need my help as well."

My smile slowly faded away, and I remembered that he was the one who led me to Jadis. He was there. He probably knew everything about this stupid curse.

Keladry glanced down at my hand, which I immediately clenched and hid from his view.

"It hurts doesn't it? Not piercingly, but like a dull throb that you kind of get used to."

I swallowed hard at his very accurate description.

He was going to use this to blackmail me, and it was not like I had any other option or source of help.

"Why should I believe you? How do I know this isn't another trick? You may still be helping Jadin since he hasn't been captured yet."

"Jadin is dead."

That caught me by surprise. I raised a brow, deliberating whether this was just another lie.

_Why was his face so bloody unreadable?_

"Proof?"

He shrugged, stretching out his arms and looking around.

"Well, I don't exactly have his body here with me do I? Guess you'll just have to take my word for it."

_Wow_.

I shot him a glare and shook my head, turning around.

"Follow me and I chop your head off."

I heard the quick footfalls behind me and suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. My instinct kicked in and I raised my sword, pointing it right at his neck. His hands quickly came up in surrender, and for a moment I thought I saw a glimmer of desperation in his eyes.

Just a moment though.

"Alright, I'm sorry, clearly not the time for a joke. But I swear, Jadin is dead. Jadis tied his life force to hers so that she could be stronger and have his powers as well, which is why when she died, so did he."

I clenched my jaw, my sword still steady at his throat. A part of me considered whether he was actually telling the truth; it did sound like something Jadis would do.

"I never willingly fought for Jadis. I was her prisoner, and she threatened to kill my siblings if I did not follow her and do what she wanted. That's why I did all her dirty work, including betraying all of you. I had no choice."

"All of this could just be another lie."

"Or it could be the truth. You know who my father is, he served Narnia to the death. I would never _willingly_ try to bring down this kingdom."

That part was true, I did know his father since he was a soldier in our army, and he was indeed a man of great honour. That was even why we decided to take in Keladry in the first place, but clearly that was not a very wise decision.

"Jadis promised me that if I did all she asked of me, she'll let my little brother and sister go. But she's dead now, and I have no idea where they are. I need to find them, and I can't do that myself."

I took in a deep breath, processing whatever he was saying. He could tell I was thinking hard, and he was no idiot to think I would just believe whatever he said so easily.

"I know what the curse is, I know why she gave it to you and how it works and everything. And I know where Coriarkin is as well. I can help you find him and get rid of the curse, but all I ask for in return is for you to use your resources to find my siblings."

And that was when he did it.

That was when he let his guard down, when I could suddenly see all the emotion he was hiding for so long. I could see his eyes turn soft in that split second, and look as sad and vulnerable as ever.

My sword was still at his neck, and his hands were still raised in surrender. I glanced at my other hand which held that horrid scar, thinking about how badly I wanted to get rid of it and just return home so that my family would stop worrying about me.

"You said you knew about the curse. Well then tell me. Tell me everything you know."

Keladry shook his head slightly, licking his lips.

"I need to know you'd help me first for sure. Lower the sword, and I'll tell you everything."

My sword-bearing hand twitched, and I wracked my brain hard, considering all my options and all the consequences of whatever action I took.

_I_t was weird, normally I would never even consider killing someone who was defenceless or in surrender; that was like killing in cold blood for me. But this time, this time for some reason the idea did no repulse me at all. In fact, a part of me felt it was only right, and I had to do it.

_I could kill him right here and now, the man who betrayed my family and kingdom._

_But that could also mean killing the only person who could be able to help me with this curse._

Finally, I made my decision.

I lowered my sword.

* * *

**A/N: So like I mentioned above, I am really sorry for such the long delay and this chapter may not even be good enough to make up for it. BUT I have some good news! I will be posting a chapter every day for this week, and next week onwards every 2-3 days at least. I've already planned out everything according to my schedule and stuff. And I'm going to try really really hard to not be an ass and actually stick to this proposal haha, so please stick around and have faith in me!**

**Also just wanted to thank everyone who's been supporting this series and me, you're the reason why I write and I hope I can continue providing content worth your time and support. Much love 3**

**As always, please don't forget to leave a review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated :)**


	11. Come's and Go's

**A/N: Not a lot happens in this one, but stay tuned as this is just a filler leading up to tomorrow's chapter which is pretty juicy!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Come's and Go's**

Caspian's POV

It had been three days since Edmund and Ella's fight in the office chamber. Three days of uncomfortable and awkward tension between all of us because those 2 refused to speak to each other. Edmund even decided to sleep in their attached guest bedroom, and Ella decided to 'hog' Talina, making Edmund even more upset. Serena had tried to talk to Ella, and I had tried to talk to Edmund, but both parties refused to budge.

_Why were these 2 always so damn stubborn?_

The fact that it had been 3 days also meant that Peter and Susan were returning today, and while of course I was happy to see them again, part of me also dreaded what was going to happen once they returned. It was rather clear what their stance on the Lucy situation would be.

Personally, I actually sided with Ella when it came to trusting Lucy enough to let her do what she needed to do and focusing more on the curse or tracking down Coriarkin.

But I also knew where Ed was coming from, and part of me also wanted to just find her and make sure she was alright.

Sending out a search party would also mean drawing attention to the situation, and having the kingdom find out about a cursed royal who ran away from home would be the last thing any of us wanted I'd assume.

_All in all, everything was just messy and confusing._

I rolled my head from side to side, regretting sleeping at my desk the previous night as I wanted to finish going through some peace treaty negotiations. I was currently standing at the entrance of our castle gate, awaiting the arrival of my wife and brother-in-law. Serena was next to me, wringing her hands together nervously, and Lorenzo was besides her, also not looking very optimistic. Edmund was training with his unit and Ella was tending to Talina.

Finally, the arrival horn sounded and the gate to our drawbridge opened, revealing 2 white stallions leading a small group of black horses, on top of which of course sat 2 royals and several guards.

I smiled as I set my gaze on Susan. It had only been around 4 days, but I still missed the sight of her dearly. Her hair was down and blowing softly in the wind, making me smile at her effortless elegance. She gazed back at me with a little grin, her eyes twinkling in the sunlight.

_It was like love at first sight all over again._

Once they reached us, they dismounted and passed their horses to one of the stable boys to take away.

I beamed and took 2 large steps forward, embracing my wife.

"I missed you." I whispered, hugging her tightly before pulling back and giving her a short but sweet peck on the lips.

"Of course you have," she smirked with a chuckle, "and of course I missed you too."

I noticed in my peripheral vision Peter and Serena embracing each other as well. However, their reunion was not as chaste as ours was, as their kiss was more than just a mere quick peck. It was even enough to warrant an awkward cough from Lorenzo.

I patted Peter on the shoulder once we both let go of our wives.

"I assume everything went smoothly?"

"Indeed, they were a bit abrasive at first, but thankfully I had sensible Su here who was able to get them to come around."

Susan smiled proudly, nodding her head.

"It's all about having a way with words."

I was about to remark on how Peter should learn from her, but Pete interrupted me as he clutched my shoulder and looked me in the eye seriously.

"What's the update with Lucy? Has the search party made any progress?"

_Oh boy._

I took a deep breath and glanced at Serena, who returned my rather worried gaze. Peter noticed our exchange and tensed up.

"What's wrong?"

Serena placed her hand on Peter's arm, a move she did whenever she was about to talk about something unpleasant or had to calm him down.

"We need to talk about Lucy and the search party situation. Ed and Ella…"

Noticing her hesitation, I decided to jump in and help her out.

"They had an argument regarding sending out the search party."

Both Susan and Peter frowned, and I knew they were confused as well as anxious. Lorenzo, who was standing behind us quietly all the while, also decided to speak up as he could probably tell Serena and I were having a hard time thinking of a suitable way to explain everything.

"I think it's best we go in and discuss this matter properly, perhaps after both of you freshen up?"

Peter shot Lorenzo a rather sour look, obviously still holding a grudge over what he did, or rather did _not_ do, concerning Lucy's disappearance.

"No, I want to know now. What fight are you talking about? What is the status of the search party mission?"

His voice sounded urgent and tense, matching his face, and I glanced at Susan to find her frowning intently at me as well, waiting for an explanation.

_Here goes…_

"A search party has not been sent out."

Peter and Susan just stared at me for a moment, completely frozen. It felt like my heart had stopped as well, and I held my breath in anticipation of the inevitable explosion that was coming.

And right enough…

"WHAT?"

* * *

Lucy's POV

As I lowered my sword, Keladry remained stiff for a moment longer before letting out a breath and visibly loosening up. I did not like the sight of him getting comfortable so easily, so I lazily pointed my sword at him again.

"Don't think you're off the hook for anything that you've done. Once this is all over, I will make sure you're put behind bars for the rest of your life, if you're lucky enough to escape the death penalty."

Keladry's hands were still raised and he gave a small but firm nod once I was done.

"I take full responsibility for what all I did. I just want to find my siblings and make sure they're safe. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to do that."

The sincerity was clear in his voice, but I could not forget history and simply believe he was as noble and helpless as he played himself out to be.

_Still, I had to find Coriarkin and at the moment, he seemed to be my only way._

Taking in a deep breath, I lowered my sword and sheathed it. Crossing my arms, I looked him up and down and nodded my head towards his sword.

"Get rid of that first."

He glanced at it and then back at me with a look of bewilderment. I shrugged nonchalantly, though I was actually watching him closely for any signs that it was all still just a façade.

He hesitated for a moment but finally unclipped his sword and stretching it out towards me. I grabbed it swiftly, clipping it onto my own belt so that now I had two swords on either hip. The extra weight was a little more burdensome but it was nothing I could not handle.

"Bow and arrows too."

For a moment I saw a hint of anger in his eyes, but he was able to somewhat still maintain his stoic expression and his cold gaze at me.

"You're leaving me completely defenseless."

"That's the point."

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, gaze unwavering but the hesitation clear in his eyes. I quirked a brow challengingly, knowing that at the moment the fact that I had the upper-hand was bothering him undoubtedly.

"You're going to carry two swords as well as a bow and arrows?"

"Trust me, it's not a problem."

Sighing heavily, he reached around behind him and pulled out his bow from the satchel, before taking off the bow-and-arrow satchel and handing it over to me.

_I've always loved the bow and arrows anyway._

Now that I made sure he was not of any immediate threat or harm to me, I felt a little more at ease, though I could not say the same for Keladry.

He looked like he had just been stripped bare.

"Satisfied?"

I adjusted the satchel on my back and shot him a smirk.

"Now, how do we get to Coriarkin?"

"We have to get to the easter border first, you've been going the complete wrong way. We'll have to head all the way to the River Rush and cross there, then walk straight on till the eastern shores."

"Shores?"

Now it was Keladry's turn to smirk, which irked me but now was not the time to threaten his life once more.

"You didn't think he was actually in the Narnian land did you?"

I huffed, a witty remark on the tip of my tongue before I realized what he said made sense. If Coriarkin was indeed within the borders of the Narnian kingdom, there would be no way we would not know about his existence or location at all.

"What about once we reach the shores?"

"I know some people at the harbor there who will be able to help us."

"More minions of Jadis?"

He pursed his lips, shaking his head.

"People I knew before Jadis captured me. Anyway we'll be able to get onto a boat or ship, and from there we sail to his island. Not exactly easy to find, but I know the way."

I took a deep breath, still harboring suspicions against him in my mind. But for now, I decided to just take his word for it. Time was of the essence and I had already wasted too much of it.

"Well then, let's go."

* * *

**A/N: Like I said, just a filler but tomorrow's chapter will have much more I promise. Anyway, I still hope you liked it and as usual, please don't forget to leave a review! :)**


	12. Heightened Matters

**A/N: As promised, a rather dramatic chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Heightened Matters**

Susan's POV

"Are you out of your mind?"

I winced at the harshness in Peter's voice, it was no secret that he was currently fuming and all of us were at least a bit scared to say the least.

_He always had an awful temper._

Edmund stood beside him with his arms folded, and the look on his face was somewhere between smug and angry. We were in the Great Hall, with Peter and Ella standing facing each other and the rest of us around them. The moment Caspian broke the news to us, Pete demanded for Ella and Ed to be summoned.

"As a queen of Narnia, I have a right to cancel orders if I see a legitimate reason to."

Ella stood firmly with her hands clasped behind her back and her chin slightly raised. She was clearly trying to maintain a composed demeanor, but I knew her well enough to tell she was actually rather anxious standing in front of a livid Peter.

"Legitimate reason? Are you kidding me? What legitimate reason could you possibly come up with once Lucy's attacked or something terrible happens to her?"

"How are you so sure something bad is going to happen to her?"

"How are you so sure it won't?"

Ella clenched her jaw, glaring up at Peter. It was no match for his glare though, the veins in his neck and forehead were visible and he was getting redder by the moment.

"As High King, I am overruling your command and sending out a search party. I am also stripping all your authenticity and responsibilities as a royal until this situation is resolved, which means you will not be able to partake in any court or political matters."

I bit my lip, watching an expression of pure shock come over Ella's face as her jaw dropped.

_This has never happened before._

Occasionally of course we would have our disagreements, but we would always somehow work it out and come to some compromise. Never had Peter used his authority as High King to rule out the legitimacy of another royal.

"You…you can't do that! We are all equal, you can't just-"

"No we aren't."

Peter took a step closer to Ella and glared intensely down at her, causing her to shrink back a little.

"Don't forget, we have been ruling Narnia way before you came around. And as High King, I do not only protect Narnia, I protect my family as well. And I will do so by any means possible, even if it means putting certain people in their place."

I glanced at Edmund to see his reaction, but he just continued to stand firmly with his arms folded, though his jaw was clenched.

_He was actually letting Peter talk to her like that._

Ella's jaw hung, and slowly her firm and composed stature began to disappear. She looked around at all of us, tears stinging her eyes.

"You all, you all aren't saying anything? Please don't tell me all of you agree with him?"

Seeing Ella like this tore my heart apart, but I would be lying if I said I was not upset with her as well. No matter how much I believed in Lucy to be able to take care of herself, I could not just accept the fact that she was out there, alone and in trouble.

_I wanted to find my little sister, as Peter mentioned, by any means possible._

_If that meant going against Ella, so be it._

Ella looked at Caspian, then at me, then at Serena, desperation clear in her eyes. I looked away, hating being in this position. I noticed Serena looking pitifully at her, but she too did not speak a word. Caspian on the other hand looked more conflicted, but also remained silent.

"Ed?"

Her voice cracked as she took a step forward and placed her hand on Edmund's arm. But as he moved away, causing her hand to drop, her tears fell and I too felt a tear slide down my cheek.

"How could you be like this Ella? I thought you loved Lucy? How could you compromise the safety of my little sister?"

"Ed I, what are you saying? Of course I love Lucy. I would never-"

"Of all people, I really didn't expect this of you."

Ella seemed to be at a loss of words. But I could see the sorrow in Edmunds' eyes as well though he maintained his tough exterior. Choosing between his wife and sister must have been horrible for him.

_Then again, why did he have to choose in the first place?_

_Why was Ella making this so hard?_

"Trumpkin."

The little dwarf, who was all the while standing a little distance from us together with Lorenzo and watching us quietly with a frown, slowly walked forward towards Peter. He glanced at Ella, who was still in tears and staring at Edmund in disbelief, and looked down briefly for a moment before looking back at Peter regally.

"Please inform the members of the court of my decision regarding Ella's current status. Explain the circumstances and make sure it is known that my word is final."

Trumpkin nodded and bowed before swiftly leaving the hall, all the while the frown still present on his face.

"Lorenzo."

I turned to Lorenzo for the first time since we gathered, only to find him with his hands clasped behind his back and his head lowered, glaring at the ground. Once Peter called his name, he looked up with his expression still furious and walked towards Peter.

He did not even bother hiding his anger.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

I knew Peter would have been irked by Lorenzo's demeanor, but thankfully he seemed to let it pass.

"Unfortunately we have to stay here as we have a lot of diplomatic matters and meetings to settle. If it were up to me of course we would head the search parties ourselves. But you're our next in command, so I need you to lead the search parties."

Lorenzo nodded immediately, but he lowered his gaze and continued frowning, a state that was so rare for us to see.

"And don't even think of sabotaging this operation. Finding Lucy is an order, not a request. Understood?"

"Yes, Sire."

With that, he turned and exited the Hall as well, but not before offering Ella a sympathetic look, though she was just staring at the ground and letting her tears flow freely.

Peter looked back at her and while he still looked upset, his expression softened for a moment and he sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry I had to go to these lengths, but you did this to yourself Ella. You should know by now that we are a fiercely protective family and we can't let anyone sabotage the safety of any of our loved ones."

Once Peter finished speaking, he shook his head slightly at her before walking past her to leave the Hall, meaning that the meeting was over. Ella still remained frozen and staring at the ground, and Edmund seemed to be unable to look at her as he soon followed after Peter. One by one, we all walked past her to leave.

_I felt awful._

Caspian and I were the last of the line, but after we took a few steps, Ella's voice caused us all to stop.

"I'm a part of this family too."

We all turned back to find her turn around and face us, her eyes and nose now red but her tears had stopped.

"You find it shocking that I believe in Lucy enough to respect her desire for us to leave her alone to do what she needs to do. But do you know what's even more shocking? The fact that you believe I don't actually care about her."

"Enough, Ella."

"No Ed. You married me. I became a member of this family the day you married me. You of all people know how much I love Lucy. You of all people know I would never, _ever_, wish harm upon her or purposely compromise her safety. You can strip me of my authority Peter, but you can't take away my bond to this family. You've already made your decision, and I pray to Aslan you did not just make a huge mistake."

Peter, Edmund and Serena were behind me so I was not sure what their reaction was, but after a few moments I could hear their retreating footsteps. I sighed, still not understanding why Ella was acting this way, and also decided to turn around and leave.

From behind me, I heard Caspian speak after I took a few steps.

"I'm sorry El."

With that, I heard his footsteps as well, and we both exited the hall where now only Ella stood, fists clenched and cheeks tear-stained.

* * *

Lucy's POV

We had been walking for quite a while now, at least an hour or so, in complete silence. Keladry walked in front and I quietly followed, still deciphering what exactly he was up to or whether he was actually telling the truth.

At some points I considered just asking him more about his siblings and whatever back story he had, as well as about the curse, but for some reason I just could not bring myself to break the silence.

He too did not turn back even once to say anything, and it was a bit frustrating not being able to see his face, just because I wanted to see his expression.

_Then again, he was too good at masking his emotions._

Finally, we reached a short bridge which crossed over a very steep gorge with a lot of rocks and boulders at the bottom. As no one usually resided in this part of the woods, the bridge was rather old-fashioned and not very well-maintained. As he began to cross it, an idea popped into my head and I smirked.

I unsheathed my own sword and swung it at one of the posts that held the rope of the bridge.

Immediately, the rope bridge swayed and rotated to its side, causing Keladry to lose his balance and frantically grab onto the thick rope. His weight and the sudden force caused the other side of the rope post to snap, making him swing towards my side of the valley and slam against the side of the gorge.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!"

I squatted and peered over the edge of the ground to find him desperately clinging onto the rope and looking up frantically at me.

It was not the strongest rope and I glanced beside me to the post which was barely holding it.

_Just a nudge from my foot against the post would send him to his death._

"Now's your chance. Reveal your true motive, whatever plan it is you have with those 2. Does Jadis still have supporters, is Jadin still alive, what your side is plotting. Tell me everything."

"What?!"

"If you spill the beans, I'll pull you up and you and I will have a fair duel. But if you continue to stick to your old story I'm kicking over this post. Choice is yours."

Keladry looked at me as if I had grown two heads, and I had to admit if I was watching myself right now I too would think I had gone mad.

_I would normally never do something like this._

But for some reason, it felt exhilarating playing with his life this way. Perhaps it was because I still held such strong negative sentiments about how he betrayed us, so I did not feel as bad threatening him like this.

_Though there was something in me that felt that was probably not the real reason…_

"How do I know once I reveal everything you're not just going to let me fall anyway?"

"Unlike you, I am actually a person of honour. I stay true to my word."

Keladry seemed to be considering my proposition, which bothered me quite a bit because that meant he really did lie before.

"Fine, I'll tell you the truth."

I took in a deep breath, internally berating myself for making the mistake of trusting him once again. Part of me was mad at myself, but part of me was also mad at him and at that moment, in all honesty, I considered throwing away my honour and kicking over that post.

_But I needed to find out the truth first._

"I was captured by Jadis and forced to do whatever she asked of me as she held my siblings in hostage. I knew she was going to curse you, but I did not know she was planning to die. I don't know where she has kept my siblings and I need the help of the royal family to find them."

I pursed my lips and squinted my eyes suspiciously at him. I was pretty sure I made it clear to him that if he repeated the same story I would let him fall.

_What was he playing at?_

"What, you wanted the truth didn't you? Now let me up, you promised a fair duel."

He was struggling more and more to speak, and I could see his arms trembling. The rope as also getting more and more stretched, which meant he really did not have much longer left to dangle off the gorge.

I looked into his eyes, and just like before, his guard was down. Fear was very clearly written on his face, but I could also see vulnerability and sincerity.

_He seemed too afraid of heights to be willing to risk his life like this._

Finally, I huffed and reached down, letting him grab onto my arm with his other hand. He let go of the rope which was really flimsy by now and used the side of the gorge wall to help himself as I pulled him up.

Finally, he swung his legs over onto the ground and rolled flat onto his back, his face the picture of trauma.

I rolled my shoulder from the strain of lifting his weight before getting up onto my feet. As he lay panting on the ground, I just watched him, wondering why he was such a mysterious puzzle to solve.

"Right, now that that's over, we'll need to walk further down and cross over a fallen tree trunk I spotted some time ago, since someone decided to cut down our very convenient bridge like the genius that she is."

I looked at him in bewilderment as he spoke in pants and pushed himself off the ground to stand.

"What about our fair duel? I promised-"

"Yeah well, not much is going to come out of it anyway. Either I'll win and I'll pull you up and we'll continue on, or you'll win and either let me live or impale me, in which case you won't be able to find Coriarkin. Might as well save the time."

At that point all I could do was blink at him.

"Well come on then, it's going to get dark soon, we should try to reach the badger village before sunset so that we can ask for a place to sleep."

Keladry then dusted off his hands and walked past me nonchalantly, as if he was not inches away from death just a few moments ago.

I still remained frozen, my mouth ajar and my eyes still blinking in disbelief.

_Either Keladry was actually telling the truth, or he was a deranged minion of Jadis and Jadin who was really good at fooling me and luring me to whatever trap they had._

Whatever the case was, I breathed deeply and turned around, following him and clenching my marked hand, cursing Jadis for being the reason why I was in this situation in the first place.

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**A/N: Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, and the speedy updates! It feels good to update this fast haha. Anyway, reviews are appreciated and to all those who have been supporting me, thank you :)**


	13. Silence and Speaking's

**A/N: HI! Hope you guys like this chap! (I spent pretty long on it haha)**

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**Chapter 13: Silence and Speaking's**

Edmund's POV

It was like every other morning in the Dining Hall during breakfast in some ways, and in some ways it was a completely different atmosphere.

We were all sitting around, biting into our toast and sipping our juice as usual. Peter and Caspian were discussing some meeting they had later in the day, and Serena and Susan were talking about Susan's and Peter's trip up north.

Technically I was a part of the conversation too, but while I did occasionally react to something funny or give some remark as a response, my mind was not in the discussion at all. I could not help but glance at the empty chair opposite me where Lucy would always sit, as I know the other occasionally did as well.

_Where was she right now?_

_Was she hurt? Was she captured by someone? Was she able to find what she was looking for?_

As all these questions ran through my mind, I also could not help but be hyper-aware of another presence next to me.

In my peripheral vision I watched Ella silently chew her food, gazing at the table with a far-off, lost look on her face.

_In all honesty, us being like this was killing me._

Of course I hated this rift between us, but every time I looked at her, all I could think about was how she was able to calmly stand in front of me and claim there was no need to find my sister who was in trouble.

No matter what noble reasoning she gave, at the end of the day, she sabotaged finding Lucy and in such a situation where time was of the essence, that delay she caused may have allowed something horrible to happen.

_Honestly, what was she thinking?_

It was not a question of believing in Lucy, it was a question of saving her life.

I sighed heavily, upset that even with Jadis defeated, things were even worse than before. Never did I imagine that once she was gone, I would end up sleeping in a different room from my wife and having to compete with her over seeing my child, not to mention my sister would actually run away from being cursed.

Suddenly, the sound of the chair scrapping against the floor startled me out of my thoughts. I turned to find Ella getting up.

"I'm going to get Talina for breakfast."

She spoke in the most disheartened tone, and I had never seen her so mellow and low. For a moment I felt bad, but then I remembered why she was this way in the first place, and I clenched my jaw.

"There's no need. Talina woke up early this morning and was hungry so I fed her and sent her to play with the faun caretakers and their children."

Indeed, the previous night I decided to have Talina sleep with me in the guest bedroom, as I was tired of Ella holding on to her all the time and not letting me see her. While there was no crib in that bedroom, the bed was still big enough for her to sleep next to me.

_I remembered as I watched my little girl sleep, her tummy rising and falling slowly, how I thought about how much she resembled Ella._

_How she was lucky she was oblivious to what all was happening with her family._

I could only pray by the time she got old enough to be able to understand situations, everything would be alright by then.

"Oh, alright."

Ella's soft but terse reply snapped me out of my thoughts again. I noticed Peter was refusing to look at her, and the rest just had a look of pity on their face.

Ella took her plate and glass and pushed her chair back in, heading towards the kitchens.

That was a habit of hers, usually we would let the staff clear our dishes, but she always cleared her own dishes herself.

Normally I would watch her do that with endearment, but at the moment all I felt was hurt and frustration.

I turned back and took a gulp of my juice, praying Lorenzo would find Lucy quickly and put my mind at ease, and for Aslan to give me the strength to forgive Ella.

All of a sudden, the loud sound of crashing plates resonated throughout the Hall. My head whipped to my right, finding a frozen Ella with shattered porcelain lying in front of her. At first I feared the worst; that she was not okay. But then I realized she was just standing, rooted to the ground.

I turned back to the others, and they were exchanging confused glances as well.

"Ella?"

Serena called out with concern, and I turned back to see if she had reacted or moved.

It was not like dropping plates was anything extraordinary, it could have just been out of carelessness. That was not the weird part, the weird part was how she was completely unmoving, still as a statue.

Her back was faced to us as well, so we could not see her face.

I then considered the possibility that she was having another vision, but even then she was never frozen when she had them. At first they were painful for her so she would shake a lot, but even once she got a hang of them, she would still tremble a bit or at least massage her temples.

_This was definitely strange._

Finally, I decided to just investigate what exactly was wrong myself. Apparently I was not the only one with that idea, as while I got up and made my way towards Ella, so did Susan and Serena.

Once I reached her, I was rather taken aback to find an expression of shock on her face. Her eyes were wide and her mouth slightly ajar, and she seemed to be staring at something right in front of her.

I followed her line of sight, but found nothing but the large engraved marble doors of the kitchen. There was nothing and no one in front of her.

I glanced at Susan and Serena who were standing on her other side, and they looked confused as well, meaning it was not just me who could not find what she was looking at.

"Ella, what-"

As Susan spoke and placed her hand on Ella's shoulder, Ella jolted, as if suddenly brought back to reality, and looked at all of us in a mixture of bewilderment and confusion.

"Um, I uh…sorry, c-careless fingers." Ella awkwardly gave a half-hearted laugh, and even she had to be aware of how obvious it was that she was lying.

I could make out beads of perspiration forming on her forehead, but before I could ask anything, she quickly bent down, muttering something about how clumsy she was as she started to pick up the broken plate pieces.

"Wait, don't-"

I spoke too late as I was interrupted by Ella letting out a yelp of pain, just as I knew she would from cutting her fingers with the sharp fragments.

I sighed, noticing 2 gashes on her left palm and her right index finger that were starting to bleed profusely.

_Always the impulsive one._

"You've cut your hands pretty badly Ella, leave the plates. We'll get the staff to clear up the mess."

"No Su, this is my fault, I'll clear it up. I'm fine! They're just little scratches."

I rolled my eyes and bent down, grabbing her arm and pulling her up.

"Come on, there are medical kits in the kitchen."

I did not give Ella time to reply as I let go of her arm and walked ahead to the kitchen, knowing that if I looked at her or fussed over her, I would start thinking about how much she hurt me once again, and the idiot would probably bleed to death from not getting her hands treated.

The soft footfalls behind me let me know that she followed me, slowly but surely.

I walked into the kitchen and past the crew who was currently clearing up all their breakfast preparations. They all seemed a bit stunned to find me in there, but nonetheless greeted me to which I offered back my smile and nod.

Reaching the back of the large chamber, I opened a cabinet and scanned through the shelves, spotting the familiar-looking white box with a red heart painted onto it.

Taking it out, I turned to Ella who was standing behind me and, just as I suspected, watching me closely as she held her injured hands to herself.

"Sit."

I grabbed 2 high stools that were nearby and hopped onto one, opening the kit and taking out the bandages, cloths and medicines.

I made sure to focus on just the kit and her hands, unable to bring myself to actually look at her face. As I held her hand and wiped the blood from her palm, I realized that this was the first time in almost a week that I was holding her hand.

_But it was not for the reason I wished it would be._

_And while it always made me happy, this time I just felt incredibly hurt._

I knew she was biting her lip without even looking at her, and while normally I would scold her as she always ended up chewing the skin off, this time I just remained silent.

As I applied the medicine on her cut, my curiosity got the best of me and I just could not help but ask what I was thinking since she dropped the plates.

"So, what happened?"

While I was able to break the silence, I still could not bring myself to look at her, so I just continued staring at her palm as I bandaged it and waited for her reply.

"Oh, uh, I don't know, it was nothing. Just a slip of the fingers."

I knew from the nervous and hesitant tone in her voice that that was most certainly a lie. At that point, I had two options.

I could continue to pry and ask her what the real reason was, as I normally would.

Or I could just accept her answer.

After a moment passed, I decided to just nod and let us fall back into silence until I finished bandaging her hands.

Sadly, silence was the best option between the two of us now.

* * *

Lucy's POV

"So, tell me all you know about this curse."

After I got over my stupor of him rejecting my duel proposal, I jogged to catch up to him and decided to just get straight to the point.

"Mortis Telvol."

I rolled my eyes as he answered with just that, a completely straight expression on his face.

"I know what it's called, remember I was there when Jadis whispered that into my ear as she crushed my hand mercilessly. Thanks to you."

I muttered the last part in annoyance just loud enough for him to hear, which made him glance at me and then glance down apologetically before continuing to look and walk on straight.

"It means Holder of Death."

"Gosh, yes, I know what it translates to. But what does it mean? What exactly is the curse?"

"Well, what do you think it means?"

I groaned, really not in the mood for his game of guess and riddles. Nonetheless, I thought for a moment, deciphering what kind of curse Jadis could possibly be so keen to put on me.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?"

For some reason beyond my understanding, this made Keladry chuckle. He stopped and turned to me with an amused smirk on his face, riling up my irked sentiments once more.

"Don't you think if Jadis wanted to kill you, she would have just stuck her staff in you when you were in front of her?"

I huffed indignantly, not appreciating his tone of sarcasm.

_How on earth was I supposed to know how that twisted, evil psycho thought?_

Keladry crossed his arms and leaned a bit lower, so that he could look me square in the eyes. While a ghost of his smirk was still present on his lips, his eyes became serious instantly.

"Holder of Death doesn't mean you suffer death; it means you bring it."

With that, he stood back up straight and turned, resuming his walk forward.

Once again, he left me baffled, frozen and at a loss of words.

"Wait…what?!"

I ran back to his side and started at him in bewilderment, walking briskly to keep up with his long strides. He seemed unfazed by my outburst however, just looking straight ahead with his usual stoic face.

"What do you mean I bring death? What, like the people I touch die? Am I bringing a plague? A natural disaster? Stop walking!"

I finally got fed up with how he just kept walking and ignoring me, so I yanked his shoulder and spun him to face me once more.

"What does it mean, how am I going to bring death?"

Keladry licked his lips and looked around, his hands planted on his hips. It was as if he was thinking of a way to explain himself, and I let him take that time because what was going to say was literally my fate, so I needed him to be crystal clear.

"Jadis has always wanted to destroy your family from the inside. She's tried countless ways, as you very well know. And finally she saw a way that meant sacrificing her life and compromising Jadin's. She discovered a curse, and you were the perfect host for it."

"So you're saying… I'm going to be the one to destroy us?"

"Essentially, yes. You are cursed to bring death to your family."

My heart plummeted into my stomach, and suddenly it became hard to breathe. My mind felt like a whirlpool of thoughts, and while I tried to process everything, one thing still didn't make sense to me.

"Wait, no, what would be the point? Why would Jadis allow herself to die first before seeing our destruction?"

Keladry paused for a moment, and he seemed to have a look of pity or sympathy in his eyes as he looked down at me.

"I guess ultimately her hatred for your family overwhelmed her desire for power."

I looked down, considering what he said.

_It was true Jadis loathed our family endlessly and would do absolutely anything to see us defeated, but would she go to the extent of letting herself die?_

_Her hatred may have been passionate, but so was her desire for the throne, from the very start._

"Listen, I know it's a lot to take in. But it's not a hopeless situation. Coriarkin was the one who told her about the curse, and he's the only one who knows how to reverse it. Once we find him, you'll be alright."

I could not help but scoff, Keladry may have been trying to be encouraging or optimistic, but it was definitely not working considering how I strongly desired the ground the swallow me whole at the moment.

"IF we find him, and even if we do, what if it's too late? How long do I have before I'm full-on death mode?"

"That, I'm not sure of. Sorry."

I took a deep breath, processing everything once again. I did not even care about myself or what eventually happened to me, but I could not let anything happen to my family.

_I could not let myself kill them._

"Keladry, if anything happens and we don't reach Coriarkin in time, I need you to kill me. I need you to kill me the moment you see the curse take over me. Do you understand?"

"Lucy, I-"

"My family will help you find your siblings, so don't worry about that. They may be hard to convince at first, just like how I was, but I know they will help you once they see you are telling the truth. But please, please don't let me anywhere near them if I succumb to the curse."

I had never sounded so desperate or vulnerable in my life, but that was exactly how I felt in that moment. I peered up at Keladry, praying fervently that he would listen to me and make sure I did not cause my family to die.

_He was my only resort._

He stared at me for a moment, seemingly conflicted, which puzzled me a bit as I assumed he did not really care whether I lived or died so long as he got his siblings back. I looked into his eyes, begging him with my own.

_I needed to hear him agree, I needed his word._

"Swear to me. If you are as good as you claim to be, then swear to me. Please."

Finally, he nodded shakily.

"Say it."

"I…I swear. I won't let you hurt your family."

I sighed, relief flooding over me as he spoke that sentence.

_Oh Aslan, please make sure he sticks to his word._

"But it won't come to that. I assure you, we will find Coriarkin and get you cured, and then you can find my siblings as a thank you."

In that moment, I could not help but smile at the way he looked at me with passionate sincerity. But I caught myself and immediately put back my stern expression, slightly ashamed at myself for letting him see me so desperate a few moments earlier.

_Desperation was weakness, and I could not afford to let him see me weak._

"Yes, well, that's still to be seen. Don't think I trust you completely yet."

"I never said you did."

Again his smirk returned, but only for a moment before he, for what felt like the umpteenth time, turned back forward and continued walking.

I pursed my lips as I watched him walk away, but while for a few seconds all I thought about was how I hated that deceitful smirk of his, thoughts about the curse started to wander back again.

_What if after everything, I failed and the curse ended up taking over me._

I glanced down at my palm, the black scar laughing back at me, and clenched my fist to hide it, as if that erased it completely.

_No._

_No matter what, I would never let anything happen to my family._

_Even if it meant ultimately sacrificing my own life._

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**A/N: I'm starting to write the chapters a bit longer just because this is the last story and it's pretty long so I hope that's okay! I also hope you guys liked this chapter as it was pretty hard to write. As always, please don't forget to leave a review, constructive feedback is very much appreciated :) **


	14. Badgerville

**A/N: Sorry for the short delay, was busy the past 2 days! Anyway this was a super hard chapter to write so I apologise if it's not up-to-quality **

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**Chapter 14: Badgerville**

Lucy's POV

After we crossed over the fallen tree trunk, which was actually easier than I thought it would be, it was only another hour's walk until we reached Badgerville.

I had been here a few times, though out of all us Edmund came here the most. It was a really cheery village, not too big with only around 100 badgers occupying it. They lived in tree-trunk houses which I always found adorable, and had their own little village centrepoint as well where the young would play and the old would chat.

As we watched the village from behind the trees, I smiled, adoring how cheerful everyone seemed to be as they went about their daily lives.

_I always loved seeing the creatures of my kingdom being safe and happy._

But then, a worry sprung to my mind.

"Keladry, no one can know my situation. The Badgers are going to be rather curious seeing their queen creeping around their village with a stranger."

As I whispered, Keladry continued scanning the village, as if looking for something or someone.

"Don't worry, I know a badger who owes me a favour. He can hide us until tomorrow morning."

I bit my lip, looking up to see the sky already a dark purple. I had no idea how much time it took for this curse to take over me, so that meant every second was crucial. I hated the idea of wasting an entire night instead of continuing on to find Coriarkin, but there was no way I could complete this mission without a wink of sleep.

"Found him!"

As Keladry exclaimed, I tried to follow his line of sight and spot the badger in question, but unfortunately there were too many of them bustling around.

"Which one?"

"There, that one by the log bench eating berries."

I scanned through the playing children and the roaming adults and finally found the log bench he was talking about.

_Well, he looked innocent enough, just casually enjoying his snack._

"Ok, next problem, how do we get to him without everyone realizing you're Queen Lucy."

_Good point._

I looked down, wracking my brain for any ideas. In all honesty, it seemed like a pretty hopeless and impossible situation. For a moment I considered whether we even had to do this in the first place, but then I remembered as a queen it was probably not wise for me to just sleep in the middle of the jungle with some odd man.

_Aslan forbid anyone found us._

"I have an idea."

I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced at my partner, who was looking back at me hesitantly.

"What?"

"I don't think you'll like it."

And that was how, 5 minutes later after some heated debating and me finally giving in, I found myself being carried bridal-style by my brother's attempted murderer, using his chest and the hood of my cloak to cover my face.

_How mortifying._

We also figured it would have been suspicious of us to come bearing 3 weapons so we left our weapons hidden in a tree trunk, deciding to pick them up the next morning. A part of me was concerned whether anyone would find them, but it was a pretty strategic hiding place as the hole of the trunk was covered with vines and fungi anyway, so it looked like just any other tree.

As Keladry entered the village, I couldn't see anything, but I could still hear fine.

"Oh! Hello there, what brings you to badgerville good sir?" A warm feminine voice sounded.

I noticed immediately that the bustling toned down, and I was pretty sure everyone stopped what they were doing and was watching us intensely at the moment.

_Great_.

"Good day Ma'am, my wife and I were on our way to the Eastern shores when we lost our horse which also carried our supplies. She's awfully sick as well and I was hoping I could find my friend here who could help us."

"Oh no! Well let's have a look here, what's wrong with her?"

Keladry moved a step back and gripped me tighter, making my heart race for some reason. I knew it was just because he did not want the badger to see me, but it still made me feel a little strange.

_It was probably because no one had ever carried me this way before, and _not_ for any other reason._

"That's alright, we don't want to cause any fuss or bother, I'm just-"

"Keladry!"

Another voice, this time a very raspy male one, boomed out and I assumed this was probably the friend he was talking about.

"Kent! It's good to see you, I don't mean to bother but-"

"Oh nonsense nonsense it's no bother. It's alright everyone, go back to your lives, I'll take care of them. He's my old mate."

"Oh, you sure you can take them yourselves Kent? We can always-"

"Yes yes Rosie, my friend so my responsibility. It's fine!"

"Yes Ma'am, we really don't want to cause any fuss. We'll be alright with Kent."

"Alright, Kent, you better take good care of these two. Give her some medicines and make them some nice hot soup-"

"Yes yes, gosh Rosie just because you're the oldest around here doesn't mean you're my mum. I've got it all covered."

"Alright alright no need to be snappy. Anyway, you're welcome to stay as long as you like dear. And I hope that wife of yours gets better. If Kent here actually does a good job in taking care of you two, hopefully we can see her up and about properly tomorrow!"

"Thank you Ma'am." I felt Keladry's chest rumble as he gave an appreciative chuckle before he started walking forward again, making me turn my head more to make sure my face was completely covered.

I could hear the bustle start back up, which made me rather relieved that the plan actually worked and no one insisted on looking at me or talking to us.

After a few moments, I felt Keladry bend down, dipping me gently as well, which meant we had finally entered Kent's treehouse.

Once I heard the door firmly close and locked, I lifted my head and loosened my grip around Keladry's shoulders as he set me down on a bed.

I took a quick look around the cozy home, reminding me a lot of the beavers' home from all that time ago, when we first came to Narnia.

There was a crackling fire, giving the whole place a warm, amber glow that made me feel relaxed. There were little knick-knack's sprawled everywhere, making it clear that Kent was not a very organized individual. But nonetheless, the place was still clean.

"Alright, spit it Keladry. There's no way on earth you're married. Why are you really- oh my!"

My head snapped to the badger standing at the foot of the bed I was currently on, staring at me in disbelief.

"It's nice to see you too, old friend."

Keladry, who was currently standing beside me, did not get any response from the dumbfounded badger. I started to feel rather awkward at how he was just staring at me with his mouth open.

"Hello there."

"It's… it's Queen Lucy!"

I smiled, glancing up at Keladry with slightly furrowed brows as I knew this was not going to be very easy, explaining everything to him. Keladry looked at me with an amused smirk, and then back at his friend.

"Keladry… you brought Queen Lucy into my home!"

"It would seem I did, yes."

"Your Majesty…" Kent walked up to my side so that he was right in front of Keladry, but looking at me, and immediately dropped to his knees.

"No no! It's alright, there's no need for all of that." I shifted my legs over so that I was now sitting on the edge of the bed and bent down, lifting the badger back up to his feet.

"Just Lucy is fine, it's nice to meet you."

I knew Narnians still weren't accustomed to hand shakes, but it was just a force of habit. Kent looked confused at my hand, which made me giggle and just stroke his furry head.

_He was pretty adorable._

"Kent Badgerin, it is an honour to be in your presence my liege."

Kent dipped his head in a bow once again and smiled pleasantly at me, before suddenly turning to Keladry and punching him in the shin.

"Ow! Kent!"

"What is wrong with you? You show up after 5 years with a Queen and you don't even warn me? You always warn a mate of these things, don't you know that?"

Keladry pursed his lips and rubbed his shin, taking a seat next to me on the bed which made me scoot over a little bit to give him space.

"Sorry, but I can't really control unforeseen circumstances. We're not here for some ordinary visit unfortunately."

"The details are confidential." I jumped in, looking pointedly at Keladry.

I did not need news about my curse being spread around, and I could not take the risk of divulging everything with Kent no matter how trustworthy he could have been.

Keladry caught onto which direction I was going in and nodded.

"Listen Kent, I have some urgent matters to settle and Keladry is helping me. It's a very sensitive operation which is why I can't have people recognizing me. You mustn't tell anyone about me being here, no matter what. If you do, I'm sorry but, I will consider it treason and you will be punished under the law."

I felt bad sounding so grim, and watching Kent turn absolutely terrified and nervous did not help either. But at the end of the day, I had to make sure he understood the seriousness of the situation and how important him keeping this a secret was.

After a moment, Kent nodded his head determinedly.

"Of course, Your Majesty. I will tell no one, I swear upon my mother's grave."

Keladry placed his paw over his heart and lifted his chin, making me smile appreciatively at him.

"Don't worry, Kent is one of the most noble and trustworthy people I know."

"Coming from you?"

I could not help but spit that out and turn to Keladry with an arched brow, making him clench his jaw and look away, as if in shame.

_Even if he was ashamed, it still did not erase what all he did._

"Um…"

Kent looked painfully confused again, and I almost felt bad for him, for how he suddenly found himself in this situation with such a big, burdensome secret to hide.

"Nevermind. Listen, Kent, I really appreciate you helping us, but we'll only be staying here for the night. We're pretty short on time so we'll be leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow, so that none of the other villagers see us as well."

"Yeah, I wish I could stay longer and catch up with you, but Lucy's right. If it's not a problem, we just need some supplies like food and a map and compass. And then we'll be off."

Kent looked like he had a billion questions, and I was sure he did, but then he paused and simply nodded. He probably understood that we already told him whatever he needed to know and what all we were willing to share.

"I understand. Don't worry, I can give you whatever supplies you need. But for now, I don't really know what mission you both are on, but I can see you're tired and probably hungry. So I'll get some food prepared."

"I'll help," Keladry spoke as Kent started to walk away. He got off the bed and joined his friend in the little kitchen just a few feet away.

As I sat on the bed and relaxed my feet, I watched Keladry and Kent catch up, at some points looking very serious and at some points laughing away. For the first time, Keladry actually looked like just a regular guy chatting with his friend.

While it made me smile, I also knew that was not the case.

Once upon a time, I used to think he was the most handsome and chivalrous man ever. He would make me blush by just looking at me, and my heart would flutter just hearing his name.

All of that was gone now of course. Whatever dreamy impression I had of him died the day I saw him put an arrow through my brother.

Considering Keladry's story, it made me sad to think he may not have actually been the monster I painted him out to be since that day. But no matter how much I tried, I simply could not bring myself to completely let go of the grudges I held against him.

_If there was one thing I could not easily forgive, it was betrayal._

Especially after Craig and Camilla, it took a lot for me to trust someone from outside the family. But Keladry came along and I was able to trust him so easily for some reason, which was clearly a mistake.

That night, as we sat around the table and ate a nice meal of pumpkin soup with deer meat, I decided to just remain quiet and let Keladry and Kent talk with each other. Kent probably also knew it would be pointless asking us anything more about our mission, and he also seemed nervous to talk with me.

In all honesty, I was just waiting for either of them to bring up Keladry's family, or at least something significant about his past leading up to him working for Jadis. For a while they just talked about petty topics like their memories from younger days.

They were currently laughing over a stupid prank Keladry had played on Kent years ago which resulted in Kent's mother not feeding him for days. I could not really understand what all they were talking about, but just the situation of them laughing and joking around made me laugh as well.

Suddenly, Kent went quiet and serious for a moment, making me hold my breath in anticipation of whether he was going to talk about what I wanted to hear.

"Listen, mate, it's really nice to see you again and don't get me wrong, I love our laughs. But you know I'm going to ask about what happened to you. After your mum died, you and the little ones went completely off-radar. 5 years and not a word."

Keladry, who was laughing so openly just a few moments ago, was now staring at the table with his jaw clenched, a painful look in his eyes.

"It's a long story, Kent, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Don't want to talk about it? Mate, you disappear for 5 years and suddenly come back, and you expect me to just not try to find out what happened? We were best pals, you know you can tell me anything."

"No Kent, there are some things I simply can't. I'm sorry."

"What's happened to you, Kel? You used to be so open, used to wear your heart on your sleeve. Why're you shutting me out?"

"People change, Kent! I already told you, I don't want to talk about it and I won't. Now please let it go."

Keladry's snappy reply to Kent made the badger recoil a bit in shock. The blonde boy still continued staring at the table, his shoulders rising and falling from his deep, fumed breaths.

_I would be lying if I said I didn't feel completely awkward in that situation._

Of course it was wrong for Keladry to snap at his friend like that, but I could also tell he was hurting really badly from remembering whatever it was exactly that happened.

I glanced at the hurt badger and felt a pang of pity for him.

"Hey Kent, how about I help you clear the table?"

I tried to sound nonchalant and happy, but I was sure the hesitation in my voice was clear. Kent looked at Keladry for a moment more before turning to me.

"There's no need Queen Lucy. I'll clear it myself. Best for me to stay out of the way anyway."

There was an obvious dash of bitterness in his tone, but he still managed to reply me respectfully and pleasantly. He looked awfully hurt and I glared at Keladry, hoping he would not just leave things as they were.

As Kent started to take the plates, Keladry sighed.

"Kent, look, I'm sorry. I should not have yelled like that. We've come here seeking your help and you've been so hospitable to us, I have no right to get angry at you. Truth is, after Mother died, a lot of terrible things happened. And I changed, not for the better. I did… so many horrible things," Keladry glanced at me for a second as he paused, and then continued, "maybe one day I'll tell you everything. But right now, I just… want to spend whatever little time I have with my old, dear friend, catching up and being happy."

Kent didn't respond once Keladry was finished, and I feared he was still too hurt from the previous words to patch things up.

But finally, he chuckled and looked back at Keladry.

"Should've just said that in the first place, mate."

Keladry smiled and returned the chuckle, reaching out and doing some weird fist-clap-bump-thing which I assumed was some special habit in their friendship. I too couldn't help but grin at how quickly they were able to patch up and Kent was able to forgive Keladry.

He really did seem like such a good-hearted, noble badger.

I made a mental note to invite him to the castle and honour him if all of this ended well and I returned home.

_If…_

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**A/N: Once again, I apologise if the chapter was not written that well! I tried my best but it was rather hard to write just because i could not make it too long! Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to those who have left such pleasant reviews previously. Your support means a lot to me :)**


	15. Mind Tricks

**Chapter 15: Mind Tricks**

Peter's POV

"I understand you aren't very happy with these terms, but this is the best we can do."

I sighed and looked through the document once more, going over the part where it said trade prices would be doubled over and over again. I was specifically concerned about the part where it said either the conditions were met or trade between the 2 countries would cease.

The King of Calormene was next to me and currently watching me very closely. Edmund sat on my other side and was also looking through the documents, his frown deeper than mine.

"Narnia and Calormene have been trading weaponry for years now at the same price, why the sudden change?"

"I have explained the problems Calormene is currently facing to Queen Ella previously, I am a little confused as to why she is not here since she is the one we have been liaising with regarding our trade terms."

I sighed as he mentioned Ella, being already very aware of the fact, and glanced at Edmund who just kept his eyes on the documents but noticeably clenched his jaw.

_Alright, act like nothing's wrong…_

"Yes, we apologise about that. Due to other obligations that she has, she is unable to join us today."

"Other obligations? Does she not consider the Calormene relation important enough to keep it as a priority?"

I internally groaned, seeing as to how he was getting more worked up.

King Rufelle always had a short temper, which made him a constant headache for us.

"If she could be here, she definitely would, but she can't. Now can we please get back to the matter at hand?"

Edmund's reply was not exactly snappy or rude, but it was definitely curt. The last thing I wanted was to be between an annoyed Edmund and an angry King Rufelle.

"Alright, we can definitely consider this new treaty but after we go over some conditions."

Thankfully, my attempt to diffuse the situation worked as neither party protested. We spent the next hour or so just going through the treaty meticulously, at the end of which we were finally able to reach a compromise.

Once we shook hands with King Rufelle and sent him off with his party to his guest chambers, I sighed heavily and rubbed my forehead, dreading the migraine that was already starting to come on.

"Pete…"

I turned to Ed who looked like he wanted to say or ask something, but then hesitated and rubbed the back of his neck.

"What?"

"How long are we going to keep Ella on suspension? There are a lot of matters that she-"

"You already know how long, until we find Lucy."

I knew sooner or later Ed would give in to his soft spot for Ella and start coercing me to forgive her and reinstate her responsibilities.

But I could not simply forgive her like that.

Until Lucy was found safe and sound, I could not even bring myself to look at Ella properly. All I felt was betrayal and anxiety, and even though I knew Ella would never willingly hurt any of us, she really did hurt me with her callous actions and naïve thinking.

That is not to say I made the decision to suspend her because of my own anger. As High King, I knew better than to let my emotions control my ruling. But what Ella did was as good as sabotage at best, and for any other individual under Narnian Law, that would mean imprisonment at least.

I couldn't imprison a royal of Narnia, more importantly a family member. Neither did I want to. But I also could not just let the matter pass, for my own conscience.

Ella did something gravely wrong, and she had to be punished in some form.

This was the only option I had.

"Don't get me wrong Pete, I haven't forgiven her either. What she did was stupid and wrong, but she was also involved in too many important diplomacy matters previously to just cut her off easily now. There are going to be many repeats of King Rufelle-"

"We'll deal with it. We ruled Narnia long before Ella came along, we can do it now without her as well."

I felt a pang of regret the moment those words left my mouth. Edmund's face turned darker but he said nothing. While I knew I sounded impertinently harsh and cold, it was still the truth at the end of the day.

"I'm sorry Ed, but I can't just let this slide. She needs to serve her punishment. On top of that, I can't just go back to normal with her. Having her involved in court matters would mean all of us needing to be on the same page. With this ongoing conflict, it would just make things worse."

Edmund still remained silent, just giving a small nod and looking down before sighing and walking away.

As I watched his back, I knew he was hurting a lot on the inside but was trying his best to put up a façade. He was still not even on proper talking terms with Ella.

Of course all of us were upset, including me since I loved Ella as well, but none of us loved her as much as he did.

_Between Lucy and Ella, this whole situation must have been utter hell for him._

I massaged the bridge of my nose, praying for the throbbing nerve in my head to calm down as I made my way back to my chamber.

_A quick nap was what I needed right now…_

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from behind me which made me freeze in my tracks.

"Peter."

It was an undeniably recognizable voice which made my heart stop for a moment. I spun around and fell speechless.

"Aslan?!"

The majestic lion, who always managed to make me slightly nervous whenever he was before me, was currently standing right in the middle of the corridor.

While he looked exactly the same, there was still something off about his appearance which I simply could not pinpoint exactly.

Perhaps it was just the shock from his very sudden and unexpected show-up.

"Wh-What…what are you doing here?"

While I honestly had no idea what he was going to say next, what he did say was something which confused me greatly.

"Oh Peter, what a disappointment you are."

I felt my throat go dry as my speaking abilities seemed to be inhabited at that moment. I did not know what to say or make of what he said. His golden eyes that were normally so warm were now filled with disgust as he just continued looking at me.

"What?"

"I thought you were fit enough to be High King, clearly I was wrong."

His voice was deep and low as usual but his tone was painfully spiteful, making my heart plummet. It felt like I was glass that had just been shattered. My mind went blank and no words were able to make their way past my lips. All I could do was stare at the lion in front of me, an indescribable feeling of fear and shame washing over me.

"Pete?"

A hand touched my shoulder which made me jolt in surprise. I turned to find Serena looking up at me in worry, her eyebrows knitted together.

I turned back to where Aslan was standing, but this time I saw nothing but the outstretched corridor, currently empty.

"Peter, what's wrong?"

"Aslan…Aslan was just here."

Serena followed my line of sight, but just like me, found no lion standing ahead.

"I was walking down the corridor towards you when I saw you turn around. But there was nothing there then and nothing there now as well."

His stinging words returned to my mind, making my heart twist painfully. Never had he spoken to harshly to me before, and never had he looked at me with so much disappointment and disgust.

_It made me feel like a worm. _

From my peripheral vision I knew Serena was looking at me with concern, but I simply could not take my eyes off the spot where Aslan stood just a few seconds earlier and insulted me so coldly.

"He was here, and he…he said I was not fit to be a king."

Saying those words out aloud made it even more painful and for a moment I wished I did not share that with Serena.

Even though she was my wife, it was still utterly mortifying and degrading.

"Oh Pete, it was probably just your imagination. Aslan was never here, and even if he was he would never say something like that to you."

Serena held my arm and looked up at me reassuringly, but I knew there was no way it was just my imagination. He looked too real, his words were too sharp for it all to just be in my mind.

"You know what I think? I think you are too stressed out. You need to just lie down and rest that frazzled brain of yours. Come on, I'll give you a head massage. I know how much you like them."

Serena started tugging me towards our chamber, but I still could not stop looking at the empty spot where Aslan previously stood not 5 minutes earlier.

_Maybe Serena was right, maybe it was just my imagination._

Maybe it was from everything with Lucy and Ella that I felt like an incompetent King.

_Then again, how frazzled could my mind be to imagine such a harsh scenario? And how could it feel so real? _

Something wasn't adding up, and while I was still in shock and confusion over what had just happened, I knew one thing for sure.

_That was more than just my mind playing tricks on me._

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the gap and the rather short chapter! I'll make it up with the future chapter that will come soon ;) As always, don't forget to review!**


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